13-R420
2013 -- S 0277 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 07/17/13
J O I N T R E S
O L U T I O N
CREATING A
SPECIAL JOINT COMMISSION TO STUDY CAPTIONING AND AUDIO DESCRIPTIONS FOR PERSONS
WHO ARE HEARING OR VISUALLY IMPAIRED IN
Introduced By: Senators Cool Rumsey, Sosnowski, Walaska, Ottiano, and Pichardo
Date Introduced: February 12, 2013
WHEREAS, The equal treatment of those who are deaf, hard of hearing,
blind, visually
impaired, or otherwise disabled is an important issue; and
WHEREAS, According to
the
Survey, in 2011,
hearing and/or vision difficulty; and
WHEREAS, Only two movie theaters in
captioned movie; and
WHEREAS, The 2010
Americans with Disabilities Act (
Design states: "A public accommodation shall take
those steps that may be necessary to ensure
that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied
services, segregated, or otherwise treated
differently than other individuals because of the absence of
auxiliary aids and services"; and
WHEREAS, An updated
included in the term “auxiliary aids and services”; and
WHEREAS, New technology, such as subtitle glasses, has the potential
to enable those
who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, visually impaired,
or otherwise disabled to enjoy the movie
going experience with less hassle for themselves and other
patrons; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED,
That a special legislative commission be and the same
is hereby created
consisting of thirteen (13) members: three (3) of whom shall be
members of the Senate, not more
than two (2) of whom shall be from the same political
party, to be appointed by the President of
the Senate; three (3) of whom shall be members of the
House of Representatives, not more than
two (2) of whom shall be from the same political party,
to be appointed by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives;
one of whom shall be the Executive Director of the
Commission on the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, or his or her designee; one of whom shall be the
Executive Secretary of the
Governor’s Commission on Disabilities, or his or her designee; one of
whom shall be the Attorney General, or his or her
designee; one of whom shall be a
representative of the Department of Human Services who specializes
in services for the blind and
visually impaired; one of whom shall be a representative of
the Theater Owners of New England;
one of whom shall be a representative from the Motion
Picture Association of America; and one
of whom shall be a representative from a
In
lieu of any appointment of a member of the legislature to a permanent advisory
commission, a legislative study commission, or any commission
created by a General Assembly
resolution, the appointing authority may appoint a member of the
general public to serve in lieu
of a legislator, provided that the majority leader or
the minority leader of the political party which
is entitled to the appointment consents to the
appointment of the member of the general public.
The
purpose of said commission shall be to study captioning and audio descriptions
in
residential and commercial settings in
who are deaf and hard of hearing and persons who are
blind or visually impaired and other areas
related to the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) as deemed
appropriate by the commission.
Forthwith
upon passage of this resolution, the members of the commission shall meet at
the call of the Co-Chairs and organize. The President of
the Senate shall select a co-chairperson
and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall
select a co-chairperson of the commission.
Vacancies
in said commission shall be filled in like manner as the original appointment.
The
membership of said commission shall receive no compensation for their services.
All
departments and agencies of the state shall furnish such advice and
information,
documentary and otherwise, to said commission and its agents as
is deemed necessary or
desirable by the commission to facilitate the purposes of this
resolution.
The
Joint Committee on Legislative Services is hereby authorized and directed to
provide
suitable quarters in the State House for said commission; and
be it further
RESOLVED,
That the commission shall report its findings and
results to the General
Assembly on or before March
4, 2014, and said commission shall expire on July 1, 2014.
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LC00993/SUB A/3
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