HB 2495 signed into law today

(I just got this email from ACDHH, Az Commission for the D & HoH, since I am on their email tree.
Just a good news to share with you. smiles.)

ARIZONA LEGISLATURE, GOVERNOR ADDRESS INTERPRETER
SHORTAGE WITH HOUSE BILL 2495, SIGNED INTO LAW TODAY

Responding to the severe shortage of interpreters for the deaf and
hard of hearing statewide, Governor Janet Napolitano signed House
Bill 2495 into law on May 27, 2004, paving the way for the Arizona
Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, a state agency, to work
with colleges and universities in ensuring quality interpreter
training.  

Currently, nationally certified interpreters number less than 100 in
Arizona, below national standards. With the deaf and hard of hearing
community swelling to approximately 450,000 people in recent years
due to increasing general population growth in Arizona, the shortage
of interpreters presents a crisis for those with hearing loss. Often,
interpreters are the only communication link that the deaf and
severely hard of hearing have to the community.

Sherri Collins, executive director of the Arizona Commission for the
Deaf and the Hard of Hearing (ACDHH), says the shortage will be
alleviated in the future by the legislature and Governor's
endorsement of HB 2495.


This legislation allows our agency to partner with colleges and
universities to make sure interpreters are adequately prepared, said
Collins. The role of an interpreter affects every part of a deaf or
hard of hearing person's life, and a qualified interpreter can make a
significant difference in education, legal, medical and general
settings.

ACDHH, a state agency mandated with licensing all Interpreters in the
state by 2007, has testified before the House and Senate on the bill.

 

What does HB 2495 do?

House Bill 2495, sponsored by Representative Mark Thompson (R-Tempe),
allows the Commission to work in partnership with universities and
collegs to develop training programs. The funding comes from the
Commission's own Telecommunications Fund for the Deaf, which is
collected from an excise tax on telephone exchange carriers.