Bills seek to address language access inequities in Hawaii

When Agnes Malate emigrated with her family from the Philippines to Hawaii in the 1960s, she knew only three English words: yes, no and what is your name. At 7, she said, school was difficult, learning to speak English while adjusting to life in a new country.

As co-chairwoman of FilCom CARES, a project of the Filipino Community Center that provides outreach, translation and other services during the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s worked with many immigrants and those with limited English proficiency who struggle with accessing services in their native languages.

One of those people is her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. Malate said her ability to translate complicated medical terminology to her mother — who is in her 80s — in Ilocano and speak up for her made a huge difference. But she said she knows not everyone has that support.

“As an immigrant myself … I learned pretty quickly that to fit in, I had to learn English. For the longest time I was very conscious about my accent,” she said. “Language is power. It’s very intimidating, frustrating and isolating if people are not able to get the information and support they need. They deserve the services that all of us have who are English speakers. That shouldn’t be a barrier.”

Malate is part of a group of community leaders and legislators backing a pair of bills that seek to expand language-access equity statewide. Senate Bill 2459 and its companion, House Bill 1762, would appropriate funds for new language coordinator positions in four state agencies as well as require that the Office of Language Access submit annual reports detailing departments’ compliance with accessibility laws, complaints and recommendations.

State Sen. Bennette Misalucha and state Rep. Henry Aquino, co-conveners of the Joint Filipino Legislative Caucus, which introduced the bills, said the proposals are in response to community members’ concerns over long-standing language-access issues, which have been compounded by the pandemic.

The bills would create four full-time language coordinator positions in the state departments of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Health and Agriculture, and the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Aquino, who represents Waipahu, said these agencies were strategically identified based on the essential services they provide and the number of immigrants and those with limited English proficiency they serve. He said the funds needed for the new positions would be determined later on in the legislative process.

Misalucha, who represents parts of Aiea and Pearl City, added that the proposed annual report would help to regularly monitor how the state is doing with language-access compliance.

Many advocates point out that Hawaii’s demographics call for a need for more language-access equity. According to census data, about 28% of Hawaii residents speak a language other than English at home, and nearly 12% reported that they struggle with English.

Language accessibility is mandated by both federal and state law. In 2006 the Legislature passed a law that requires state agencies and other organizations that receive state funding to ensure access to translated documents, interpreters and other resources to those with limited English proficiency. The law also established the Office of Language Access, tasked with providing coordination and technical assistance.

But Pat McManaman, an immigrant rights advocate and former director of the state Department of Human Services, said she has counted about nine federal complaints over language access in Hawaii. McManaman criticized the state for its lack of leadership in complying with language-access laws and called for a coordinated, consistent effort among all agencies.

“That level of executive enterprise coordination has to be in place at all times, not just during COVID, to ensure access to basic benefits around health care, unemployment and workers’ compensation,” she said. “We have so many public-­facing departments in the state. (Immigrants and those with limited English proficiency) deserve access to information.”

Aphirak Bamrungruan, executive director of the Office of Language Access, said it can be difficult to resolve issues because his office doesn’t have enforcement authority. His office of five people can resolve complaints and issues only through mediation, conferences and other informal methods.

He said the annual report proposed in the bills would help to hold agencies accountable as well as provide useful insights and recommendations to government leaders.

From July 2020 to June 2021, he said, his office received three complaints. But he said immigrants and those with limited Eng-lish proficiency are sometimes hesitant to file complaints with his office and that they instead decide to file formal complaints with the federal government, which has more enforcement powers.

Liza Ryan Gill, coordinator of the Hawaii Coalition for Immigrant Rights, agreed that the annual reports would be crucial because “it’s hard to fix a problem that you have not adequately diagnosed.”

The coalition hosted a virtual talk-story session in January to discuss these bills and community leaders’ concerns. She said the number of people who shared stories and participated emphasized the need to address language inequities. Malate added that the proposed coordinator positions would ensure that there is dedicated staff overseeing language accessibility in important state departments.

Malate and Ryan Gill said these bills are a good first step.

“This is the law. This is really an issue of civil rights for people,” Ryan Gill said. “We need to value and honor people’s native and home languages. We need to see language and bilingualism as an asset and not a deficit.”

The Senate Human Serv­ices and Government Operations committees plan to hold a public hearing on the bill at 3 p.m. Tuesday. For more information, visit 808ne.ws/3greuqe.

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Jayna Omaye covers ethnic and cultural affairs and is a corps member of Report for America, a national serv­ice organization that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under­covered issues and communities.