SB 980 and HB 443

It is once again time to get behind our profession’s effort toward regulation. Not only will we be one step closer to the professionals we each seek to be on a daily basis, but we will be giant strides ahead in terms of the quality of services provided to Florida’s almost 3 million Deaf/Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind individuals.

 Having evolved over a period of four years, our bill language is now a sleek, concise iteration of those overarching principles that guide the philosophy of quality that should pervade our profession. 2010 is OUR year, the bills are ready to roll. Now YOU are needed to cause a stir: let your Senators and Representatives know that you support regulation of your profession. Watch future e-blasts for contact information, hyperlinks, updates, and templates for communicating with your legislators. ONLY a grass-roots effort between FRID members and FAD members can lead us to success. Your voice is needed on this important matter, whether your voice is audible or beautifully expressed on your hands; JOIN US TODAY!

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Legislative Bill Evolves Significantly as FRID and FAD Seek State Regulation of Interpreting Profession

A trimmer, smarter bill will be considered by the Florida Legislature in its 2009 Session. We hope this MAY be the year that the bill passes! It is routine for a bill to require several attempts in before becoming law. This is our fourth attempt.  Our approach has shifted from a lengthy bill encompassing every detail to the current trimmed-back version featuring the overarching principles and goals sought by stakeholders statewide. 

Countless individuals have worked tirelessly throughout the numerous and complicated processes and all have learned a lot. The results are the development of a ‘memorandum of understanding’ among the state’s regulatory board, representatives of Deaf/Hard of Hearing/Hearing consumers, and representatives of interpreting/transliterating practitioners. In order for a bill to pass in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, it needs to have clear and concise language to ensure consumer protection. Additionally, it must not have expenses that exceed the profession’s ability to support the regulatory process.

Lisa Schaefermeyer (FRID LAC Chair) and Debbie Gibson (FRID LAC) met face-to-face in January 2009 with representatives from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR). Chris Wagner (FAD LAC Chair) and attorney Sharon Caserta (FRID LAC) also attended by teleconference. While we found consensus that our efforts to seek state regulation are worthwhile, bill sponsors Senator Wise and Representative Heller indicated that the regulatory body should shift from DBPR to another agency--the Florida Certification Board. 

The rationale for this important change is simple:  DBPR regulates professions with very large numbers of practitioners (manicurists, hair salon workers, landscape workers, pari-mutuels wagering personnel, etc.), and as such, its licensure includes a costly, shared overhead expense. As our profession currently has approximately 750 practitioners statewide, fewer than 300 of whom are RID-certified, we did NOT want to risk credential fees being too expensive.  There is also the risk that an unpredictable financial “assessment” could become an extra cost to our members should DBPR come upon an expensive investigation in another of its regulated professions. In short, DBPR could say at any point, ‘Your current fees aren’t enough to self-sustain, so pay X amount’ and/or ‘We have incurred unexpected legal fees or other expenses, so pay an additional X amount.’ Since we are NOT wealthy, and since our aim is to further the profession rather than exclude anyone who is genuinely a professional interpreter (or a serious student on his/her way to same) but cannot afford to pay the higher fees.

The Florida Certification Board, headquartered in Tallahassee, has 18 employees, a 20+ year history in its line of work, and an annual budget of $3.2 million dollars. Clearly, they are NOT “small-time”,  but they are better adapted to serving smaller professions. They currently oversee the regulation of other smaller professions WITHOUT an expensive shared overhead cost; WITHOUT unreasonable credentialing costs; and WITHOUT the threat of unexpected assessment fees. They are well-versed in what they do and are open and understanding of the fact that sign language interpreting is UNIQUE (thus requiring some customization of procedures where interpreters  are concerned). Yet at the same time, they have in place an infrastructure for administrative processing, recording our already-established  Continuing Education Units through the RID CMP/ACET Program; implementing a grievance system for complaints; and consequences  for those practicing without appropriate credentials for the settings in which they practice. They also have psychometricians and test-developers should a future need arise from FRID for such services.

Regulation of sign language interpreters at the state level is long overdue in Florida. We are trying to develop “best practices” from those states who have moved forward with their own regulations. This will enable us to learn the pros and cons of regulating interpreters from those who have gone before us.

We will need your HELP shortly! As you receive requests to contact YOUR SENATORS and REPRESENTATIVES in the Florida Legislature, it will be critical for all of you to ask them to support this sign language interpreter regulation. Please check back frequently for updates.