STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2774--C
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 29, 2019
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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.
LBD02919-07-0
S. 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.