When the Fall 2018 newsletter came out in October, the Legislative Committee provided a great overview of the progress they've made and some of the work they've been doing! They further presented a committee update at the Membership Meeting in the same month and more information can be found in the meeting's minutes!
From the Fall 2018 Newsletter:
Greetings from the ORID Legislative Committee! We hope you all had an opportunity to enjoy our Pacific Northwest summer (despite the smoke). These last few months we have been meeting with a number of stakeholders to determine the best strategy to move forward with a licensing board for ASL interpreters.
On June 14th, Mark Hill of OAD’s Legislative Committee and then ORID President, Jenna Curtis, met with Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson to discuss support for an interpreter licensing bill. Senator Monnes Anderson is very familiar with other licensed professions such as nursing and she informed us that this type of legislation made perfect sense to her. She agreed to sponsor our bill and help us seek support from other legislators. The Senator also let us know that such a law would best be established in the Oregon Health Licensing Office under the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). This centralized licensing and regulatory office protects the health, safety, and rights of Oregon consumers by ensuring only qualified applicants are authorized to practice. They are well versed in the processes and procedures required to successfully implement licensing laws and work with 16 other professional licensing boards.
On Tuesday August 7, 2018 representatives from the ORID Board and Legislative Committee, OAD Board and Legislative Committee met in Wilsonville to discuss specifics of licensure. That following week on Saturday August 11, 2018 OAD’s Legislative Committee held an all day work session to develop their strategy for the upcoming legislative session beginning January 2019.
After discussions at these two meetings ORID and OAD looked at a number of factors and ultimately decided to postpone proposing legislation until the following long legislative session in 2021. We were well aware at the beginning of this process that proposing a bill during this upcoming 2019 session required a very ambitious timeline. After meeting with the Senator we had 3-months to get a completed legislative concept to Legislative Council by September 28. There were several challenges that delayed our progress on drafting legislation. The Region V Conference which took place July 11-14th required an enormous amount of resources from the ORID board, committees, and members. The conference was well worth the effort and was a huge success but diverted a significant amount of energy away from fully engaging in drafting legislation. We also experienced challenges in getting stakeholders together during the summer months, as many people are vacationing, spending time with their families, and focusing on other priorities.
Holding off on proposing legislation until 2021 provides a number of benefits. First, we will have more time to get input on the specifics of the bill from the community and other stakeholders. We also will have the benefit of seeing how the new testing process will be structured under the Center for the Assessment of Sign Language Interpretation (CASLI) so we can include the most up to date options for testing in legislation. I believe that an additional two years ultimately will give us time to develop strong legislation that achieves our intended outcomes. OAD and ORID will continue to work collaboratively to raise the standards of interpreting services in Oregon for the benefit of the profession and the consumers we serve. We look forward to working together with your input and support as we move forward. If you have questions or comments, please email legislative@orid.org.