Bill Text: NY S02774 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires public officers and public bodies to make reasonable efforts to provide qualified interpreters at no charge for the hearing impaired at public meetings and hearings upon written request to the public officer responsible for the siting of such hearing; also requires installation and use of assistive listening devices.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-10 - PRINT NUMBER 2774C [S02774 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-S02774-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2774--C 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 29, 2019 ___________ Introduced by Sen. COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Ethics and Internal Gover- nance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- recommitted to the Committee on Ethics and Internal Governance in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported favorably from said committee and committed to the Committee on Finance -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public officers law, in relation to the accessibil- ity of public hearings and meetings The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 74-a of the public officers law, as added by chap- 2 ter 368 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows: 3 § 74-a. Duty of public officers regarding [the physically handicapped] 4 accessibility. 1. It shall be the duty of each public officer responsi- 5 ble for the scheduling or siting of any public hearing to make reason- 6 able efforts to ensure (a) that such hearings are held in facilities 7 that permit barrier-free physical access to the physically handicapped, 8 as defined in subdivision five of section fifty of the public buildings 9 law; and (b) that services of a qualified interpreter, if available, are 10 provided at such public hearings at no charge to persons who are deaf or 11 hard of hearing upon written request to the public officer responsible 12 for the scheduling or siting of the public hearing within a reasonable 13 time prior to such hearing. If interpreter services are requested, the 14 public officer responsible for the scheduling or siting of the public 15 hearing shall engage the services of a qualified interpreter, if avail- 16 able, to interpret the proceeding to, and the testimony of such persons 17 who are deaf or hard of hearing; provided, however, that such action EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02919-07-0S. 2774--C 2 1 does not impose an undue hardship on the public body holding such hear- 2 ing. 3 2. (a) Such public officers shall have the power and it shall be their 4 individual duty to equip any rooms used for public hearings which accom- 5 modate more than one hundred persons with an assistive listening system 6 for use by the deaf or hard of hearing; provided, however, that such 7 action does not impose an undue hardship on the public body equipping 8 such rooms. 9 (b) For purposes of this subdivision, the term "assistive listening 10 system" shall mean situational-personal acoustic communication equipment 11 designed to improve the transmission and auditory reception of sound. 12 Such system shall include but not be limited to the use of standard 13 amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), audio induction 14 loop, infrared light sound, or hard wire systems. 15 § 2. Subdivision (d) of section 103 of the public officers law, as 16 added by chapter 40 of the laws of 2010, is relettered subdivision (g) 17 and two new subdivisions (h) and (i) are added to read as follows: 18 (h) Public bodies shall make or cause to be made all reasonable 19 efforts to ensure that services of a qualified interpreter, if avail- 20 able, are provided at meetings at no charge to persons who are deaf or 21 hard of hearing upon written request to the public body within a reason- 22 able time prior to such meeting. If interpreter services are requested, 23 the public body shall engage the services of a qualified interpreter, if 24 available, to interpret the proceedings of the meeting; provided, howev- 25 er, that such action does not impose an undue hardship on the public 26 body holding such meeting. 27 (i) (1) Public bodies shall have the power and it shall be their 28 collective duty to equip meeting rooms which accommodate more than one 29 hundred persons with an assistive listening system for use by the deaf 30 or hard of hearing; provided, however, that such action does not impose 31 an undue hardship on the public body equipping such rooms. 32 (2) For purposes of this section, the term "assistive listening 33 system" shall mean situational-personal acoustic communication equipment 34 designed to improve the transmission and auditory reception of sound. 35 Such system shall include but not be limited to the use of standard 36 amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), audio induction 37 loop, infrared light sound, or hard wire systems. 38 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
