Support Language Access and Inclusion Bill in Massachusetts

We are writing to inform about and ask for support of Bill S. 1990, which helps with language access and inclusion in Massachusetts. The problem is clear: There is a lack of efficient or effective language accessibility which harms multilingual learners' ability to have effective communication, civil participation, and obtain basic government services. This perpetuates a large injustice to people that are not fluent in the complexities of the English language and people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

 The bill maintains that there will be a coordinator in each region that will decide which languages are necessary to have translated based on the specific language needs of the area, which will keep the number of languages limited. 

The necessity of this bill is becoming ever more pressing, as the number of people with Limited English Proficiency has been projected to “grow by 67 million to an estimated 19% of Americans by 2050” in the United States (Masland MC, Lou C, Snowden L). In addition to this, Georgia Katsoulomitis, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute reported that, “The lack of language accessibility also impacts those who are deaf or hard of hearing, who make up around 20% of the general Massachusetts population according to the 2023 Massachusetts census” (Katsoulomitis). 

While the price of Bill S. 1990 is high, as translation and interpretation services are costly, it comes with high reward by giving people with limited English proficiency and those who are deaf/hard of hearing their due rights.

Your support and advocacy would be greatly appreciated,

Amelie Zosa, Anna Spielmann, Clara Adams, and Maddie Webb

Needham, MA