HB 5347 — AN ACT REQUIRING A PLAN FOR THE TRANSLATION AND REVIEW OF FORMS AND APPLICATIONS REQUIRED TO ACCESS STATE AGENCY SERVICES OR BENEFITS BY LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS.

House of Representatives General Assembly SubstituteFile Bill No.

5347195 February Session, 2026 ANSubstitute ACTHouse REQUIRINGBill ANo. PLAN FOR THE TRANSLATION AND REVIEW OF FORMS AND APPLICATIONS REQUIRED TO ACCESS STATE AGENCY SERVICES OR BENEFITS BY LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS.

5347 House of Representatives, March 26, 2026 The Committee on Government Administration and Elections reported through REP.

BLUMENTHAL of the 147th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT REQUIRING A PLAN FOR THE TRANSLATION AND REVIEW OF FORMS AND APPLICATIONS REQUIRED TO ACCESS STATE AGENCY SERVICES OR BENEFITS BY LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS.

(b) Not later than January 1, 2027, the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall develop a plan for the review and translation of all printed or electronic forms or applications required to accesssHB5347 services/ orFile benefitsNo. provided by executive branch state agencies, including, but not limited to, forms or applications necessary to access vital records or to obtain identification documents, into the twelve most common non-English languages spoken by individuals with limited- English proficiency in the state based on the data in the most recent American Community Survey published by the United States Census Bureau.

Thereafter,195 the commissioner shall update such plan as LCO 1 ofsHB5347 2File Substitute Bill No.

5347195 necessary,access services or benefits provided by executive branch state agencies, including, but not lesslimited thanto, everyforms twoor years.applications necessary to access vital records or to obtain identification documents, into the twelve most common non-English languages spoken by individuals with limited- English proficiency in the state based on the data in the most recent American Community Survey published by the United States Census Bureau.

Thereafter, the commissioner shall update such plan as necessary, but not less than every two years.

Section 1 from passage Section 1 New section Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

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195 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Various State Agencies App Fund - Cost 5,000,000 None Department of Administrative GF - Cost 780,000 530,000 Services State Comptroller - Fringe GF - Cost 96,186 96,186 Benefits1 Note:

GF=General Fund;

App Fund=All Appropriated Funds Municipal Impact:

None Explanation Thebillcreatesvariousrequirementsrelatingtothedevelopmentand adoption of a plan to translate all printed or electronic forms or applications required to access executive branch state agency services or benefits into the twelve most common languages spoken in the state besides English.

The requirementsinclude (1) thedevelopment ofaplan by the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) by January 1, 2027, (2) the adoption of the plan by each executive agency by February 1, 2027, and (3) the designation of a language access coordinator to work with DAS to ensure compliance with the plan.

Developing the plan results in a one-time cost to DAS of $250,000 in FY 27 to hire a consultant with the necessary expertise to develop the plan.

Requiring each executive branch agency to translate and reproduce each of the approximately 1,500 applications result in The fringe benefit costs for most state employees are budgeted centrally in accounts administered by the Comptroller.

The estimated active employee fringe benefit cost associated with most personnel changes is 41.82% of payroll in FY 27.

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195 onetime costs of up to $5 million to various agencies in FY 27.

These costs are primarily attributed to technological updates to administrative systems and producing the non-web-based versions of these applications and forms.

The requirement to ensure compliance with the plan requires two new employees within DAS with a total cost of $326,186 ($230,000 in salary and $96,186 for fringe) and an additional cost of $300,000 per year in consultant fees.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

In addition, the bill requires the plan to be updated as necessary which results in potential future one-time costs to accommodate changes to applications and forms.

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195 OLR Bill Analysis HB 5347 AN ACT REQUIRING A PLAN FOR THE TRANSLATION AND REVIEW OF FORMS AND APPLICATIONS REQUIRED TO ACCESS STATE AGENCY SERVICES OR BENEFITS BY LIMITED-ENGLISH PROFICIENT INDIVIDUALS.

SUMMARY This bill requires the Department of Administrative Service (DAS) to (1) make a plan by January 1, 2027, to review and translate all printed or electronic forms or applications required to access executive branch state agency services or benefits and (2) update this plan at least every two years.

Federal law generally requires states to provide “meaningful access” to its benefits and services for people with limited English proficiency (see BACKGROUND).

The bill requires this plan to include translating forms and applications (1) necessary to access vital records (birth, death, fetal death, or marriage certificates) or to get identification documents and (2) into the 12 most common non-English languages spoken by people with limited English proficiency in the state, as determined based on the U.S.

Census Bureau’s most recent American Community Survey.

Under the bill, people with limited English proficiency are those whose primary and preferred language is not English and who have a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.

By February 1, 2027, the bill requires each executive branch state agency to (1) adopt and implement this plan and update it every two years and (2) designate a language access coordinator to work with DAS to ensure compliance with the plan.