By Vowell H.B. No. 2109
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the schedule of fees adopted by the Texas Commission
1-3 for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired to be paid to interpreters for
1-4 persons who are deaf or hearing impaired.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Sections 81.006(a) and (c), Human Resources Code,
1-7 are amended to read as follows:
1-8 (a) The commission shall:
1-9 (1) develop and implement a statewide program of
1-10 advocacy and education to ensure continuity of services to the
1-11 deaf;
1-12 (2) provide direct services to the deaf, including
1-13 interpreter services, information and referral services, message
1-14 relay services, advocacy services, services to elderly deaf and
1-15 hearing impaired, training in basic life skills and job-seeking
1-16 skills, and individual and family counseling;
1-17 (3) work to ensure more effective coordination and
1-18 cooperation among public and nonprofit organizations providing
1-19 social and educational services to deaf individuals;
1-20 (4) establish a registry of available interpreters for
1-21 the deaf and a catalogue of resources available for the needs of
1-22 the deaf, both of which it shall disseminate to interested people
1-23 and update annually;
1-24 (5) establish a system to approve courses and
2-1 workshops for the instruction and continuing education of
2-2 interpreters for the deaf; and
2-3 (6) annually review the schedule of fees recommended
2-4 by the commission for the payment of interpreters and, as a result
2-5 of the findings of the review and other relevant information, adopt
2-6 by rule a schedule of reasonable hourly fees to be paid to
2-7 interpreters with varied levels of skill.
2-8 (c) The schedule of fees adopted under Subsection (a)(6)
2-9 shall be adopted <of this section must be made available and
2-10 recommended for adoption> by other state agencies. If the
2-11 commission determines by rule that certificates issued to
2-12 interpreters by different entities represent equivalent skill
2-13 levels, the fees recommended for the payment of interpreters
2-14 holding those certificates must be equivalent. On request, the
2-15 commission shall send a copy of the fee schedule to a governmental
2-16 entity.
2-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
2-18 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
2-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.