Legislative Session number- 81

Bill Name: SF0620

Requiring and providing for certification and registration of persons providing
American sign language (ASL) English interpreting or cured speech or oral
transliterator services for remuneration; specifying certain national
certification standards and education requirements for eligibility, requiring
annual registration of evidence of national certification with the department of
health and requiring first time registrants to register evidence of graduation
with certain degrees or accredited training programs, providing for certain
exceptions; providing for provisional certification and renewal; clarifying the
relationship of the certification provisions with existing laws; imposing civil
and criminal penalties for violation of the requirements; requiring the deaf and
hard of hearing services division of the department of human services to
establish nonbinding competency guidelines for interpreters and transliterators
for consumer protection purposes and to operate a mediation process to resolve
complaints and authorizing the division to establish qualifications for areas of
specialization; encouraging the board of trustees on the Minnesota state
colleges and universities system (MnSCU) to establish entrance competencies in
American sign language and English for persons seeking admission to sign
language interpreters services training programs; requiring the Minnesota
commission serving deaf and hard of hearing people in consultation with certain
concerned agencies to study ways to improve the quality of sign language
interpreting and transliterating services and to report and make recommendations
to the legislature by certain dates; appropriating money to the commissioner of
human services to establish mentorship programs to assist new graduates of
interpreter training programs in obtaining certification(mk)