Legislation In RI - 2009

State of Rhode Island

Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Executive Department/Established in 1977. Restructured in 1992.

Mobile Menu Mobile Search Search

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Youtube
• RSS

This page focuses on all legislations pertaining to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing issues or concerns. You may want to check where each bill stands at this point. Please click here to go to RI General Assembly Bill Status System. Make sure to put all 4 digit numbers ("5969" for House Bill 5969) next to "Bills:" and click on "enter" button on the screen. (not on the keyboard).

Current Legislations (Legislative Session in 2009):

1) Budget for FY2009 Revision - RI CDHH and RISD

SPONSOR: Rep. Robert A.Watson

House Bill 5019

Aricle 1 - Appropriations for FY2009 revised:

RI CDHH Budget for FY2009 - $371,300 (Revised - up from $368,807)
RI CDHH FTE - 3.0

Rhode Island School for the Deaf Budget for FY2009 - $7,226,584 (Revised - up from $6,894,825)
RISD FTE - 50.0

Article 1- Section 3 -

Scoop $385,246 from the PUC Dual Party Phone Relay Fund to the General Treasury Fund.


Status:
- Introduced on January 7th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.
03/27/2009 Scheduled for consideration
03/27/2009 Committee recommends passage of Sub A
03/27/2009 Placed on House Calendar
04/01/2009 Scheduled to be heard and /or considered in anticipation of House passage
04/01/2009 House passed Sub A as amended (floor amendment)
04/01/2009 Referred to Senate Finance
04/01/2009 Placed on Senate Calendar
04/02/2009 Scheduled to be heard and /or considered in anticipation of House passage
04/02/2009 Committee recommends passage of Sub A as amended in concurrence
04/02/2009 Senate passed Sub A as amended in concurrence
04/02/2009 Transmitted to Governor
04/10/2009 Effective without Governor's signature

RI CDHH Position: N/A.

2) Budget for FY2010 - RI CDHH and RISD

SPONSOR: Rep. Robert A.Watson, Rep. John Loughlin, Rep. John Savage, Rep. Laurence Ehrhardt, and Rep. Brian Newberry

House Bill 5983

Aricle 1 - Appropriations for FY2010:

RI CDHH Budget for FY2010 - $380,146
RI CDHH FTE - 3.0

Rhode Island School for the Deaf Budget for FY2010 - $7,217,438
RISD FTE - 60.0

Status:
- Introduced on March 12th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.

RI CDHH Position: N/A.

3) Revamp the contexts of public finance campaign and it would exclude CC on political TV ads.

SPONSOR: Senator Perry, Senator DiPalma, Senator Miller, Senator Sosnowski, and Senator Lenihan

Senate Bill 0327

This bill is to replace the entire context of public financing campaign program for public officials and legislators that would exclude Captioning on political TV ads.

Status:
- Introduced on February 12th and then, referred to Senate Judiciary Committee.
03/31/2009 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
03/31/2009 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH opposes to eliminate captioning on political TV ads unless it is amended to include it on SB 0327.



4) This act would identify and include communication access expenses to ensure participation by deaf and hard of hearing individuals as a permitted use of campaign funds.

SPONSOR: Senator Walaska, Senator McBurney, Senator Raptakis, Senator McCaffrey, and Senator Bates.

Senate Bill 0383

This bill is to amend the language that communication access expenses recognized as a permitted use of campaign funds to ensure participation by deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Status:
- Introduced on February 12th and then, referred to Senate Judiciary Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on March 10th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.
05/12/2009 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
05/12/2009 Committee recommends passage
06/02/2009 Placed on Senate Calendar
06/04/2009 Senate passed as amended (floor amendment)
06/09/2009 Referred to House Judiciary

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

5) This act would identify and include communication access expenses to ensure participation by deaf and hard of hearing individuals as a permitted use of campaign funds.

SPONSOR: Rep. Handy, Rep. Naughton, Rep. Jacquard, and Rep. Walsh.

House Bill 5570

This bill is to amend the language that communication access expenses recognized as a permitted use of campaign funds to ensure participation by deaf and hard of hearing individuals.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Judiciary Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on March 25th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

6) This act would require movie theaters with five or more screens to provide captioning on at least one screen for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, and provide audio descriptions for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

SPONSOR: Rep. Jacquard, Rep. Handy, and Rep. Naughton.

House Bill 5601

This bill is to amend by adding the section that movie theaters with 5 or more screens are required to provide captioning for patrons who are deaf and hard of hearing and audio descriptions for patrons who are blind or visually impaired.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
- Transferred to House Health, Education, & Welfare Committee on March 12th.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on April 8th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

7) This act would allow wireless telecommunications providers to bill their subscribers for access to telephone service.

SPONSOR: Rep. Handy, Rep. Naughton, Rep. Walsh, and Rep. Jacquard .

House Bill 5612

This bill is to allow wireless telecommunications providers to bill their subscribers for access to telephone information services. This act would also establish the emergency communication and public telecommunication access fund to create an emergency communication program for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on March 31.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

8) This act would require that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state and public -sponsored websites be made accessible to people with hearing loss.

SPONSOR: Rep. Naughton, Rep. Jacquard, and Rep. Handy.

House Bill 5638

This bill is to add the new section that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state and public-sponsored websites be made accessible to people with hearing loss.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on May 6, 2009.
05/06/2009 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

9) This act would require that a receipt for a hearing aid includes LANGUAGE that the client has been informed about the benefits of using T-switch on hearing aids.

SPONSOR: Rep. Naughton, Rep. Handy, Rep. Walsh, and Rep. Jacquard .

House Bill 5655

This bill is to require that the hearing aids dealers to inform the clients about the benefits of using T-Switch, ATEL, and RICDHH for further resources on hearing loss.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Health, Education, & Welfare Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on April 2nd. (Postponed.)
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on April 8th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.
06/04/2009 Scheduled for consideration
06/04/2009 Committee recommends passage
06/04/2009 Placed on House Calendar
06/10/2009 House read and passed
06/16/2009 Referred to Senate Health and Human Services

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



10) Revamp the contexts of public finance campaign and it would exclude CC on political TV ads.

SPONSOR: Rep. Ajello, Rep. Fierro, Rep. Pacheco, Rep. Dennigan, and Rep. Handy

House Bill 5806

This bill is to replace the entire context of public financing campaign program for public officials and legislators that would exclude Captioning on political TV ads.

Status:
- Introduced on February 26th and then, referred to House Judiciary Committee.
- Transferred to House Finance Committee on March 12th.
06/03/2009 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
06/03/2009 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH opposes to eliminate captioning on political TV ads unless it is amended to include it on HB 5806.



11) This act would require movie theaters with five or more screens to provide captioning on at least one screen for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing, and provide audio descriptions for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

SPONSOR: Senator Walaska, Senator Bates, Senator Maselli, and Senator Lynch.

Senate Bill 0538

This bill is to amend by adding the section that movie theaters with 5 or more screens are required to provide captioning for patrons who are deaf and hard of hearing and audio descriptions for patrons who are blind or visually impaired.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Service Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



12) This act would require that a receipt for a hearing aid includes LANGUAGE that the client has been informed about the benefits of using T-switch on hearing aids.

SPONSOR: Senator Walaska, Senator Bates, Senator Maselli, and Senator Lynch.

Senate Bill 0553

This bill is to require that the hearing aids dealers to inform the clients about the benefits of using T-Switch, ATEL, and RICDHH for further resources on hearing loss.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Service Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



13) This act would require that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state and public -sponsored websites be made accessible to people with hearing loss.

SPONSOR: Senator Walaska.

Senate Bill 0750

This bill is to add the new section that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state and public-sponsored websites be made accessible to people with hearing loss.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Service Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

14)This act would require the insurance coverage for cochlear implant surgery.

SPONSOR: Rep. Jacquard, Rep. Handy, Rep. Ajello, and Rep. Naughton.

House Bill 5703

This bill is to require the insurance coverage for cochlear impant surgery.

Status:
- Introduced on February 26th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
- Committee transferred to House Health, Education, & Welfare Committee on March 12.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on April 8th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it only if the insurance coverage includes the full cost of hearing aids.

15)This act would require the insurance coverage for cochlear implant surgery.

SPONSOR: Senator Walaska and Senator Bates.

Senate Bill 0394

This bill is to require the insurance coverage for cochlear impant surgery.

Status:
- Introduced on February 12th and then, referred to Senate Education Committee.
- Scheduled for hearing on April 29.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

16) This act would require that all educational materials be accessible to students before purchasing such as captioning.

SPONSOR: Rep. Jacquard, Rep. Handy, and Rep. Naughton.

House Bill 5614

This bill is to require the purchasers to check all materials if they are accessible to deaf and hard of hearing students before making the purchase. .

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
- Committee transferred to House Health, Education, & Welfare Committee on March 12th.
- Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration on April 8th.
- Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.