Legislation In RI - 2010

State of Rhode Island

Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Executive Department/Established in 1977. Restructured in 1992.

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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 ("7786" for House Bill 7786) next to "Bills:" and click on "enter" button on the screen. (not on the keyboard).

Current Legislations (Legislative Session in 2010):

1) Budget for FY2010 Revision - RI CDHH and RISD

SPONSOR: Rep. Robert A.Watson

House Bill 7105

Aricle 1 - Appropriations for FY2010 revised:

RI CDHH Budget for FY2010 - $349,670 (Revised - down from $370,146)
RI CDHH FTE - 3.0

Rhode Island School for the Deaf Budget for FY2010 - $7,176,810 (Revised - up from $7,219,156)
RISD FTE - 60.0

Status:
- Introduced on January 13th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.

RI CDHH Position: N/A.

2) Budget for FY2011 - RI CDHH and RISD

SPONSOR: Rep. Robert A.Watson

House Bill 7397

Article 1 - Appropriations for FY2011:

RI CDHH Budget for FY2011 - $363,502
RI CDHH FTE - 3.0

Rhode Island School for the Deaf Budget for FY2010 - $7,341,892
RISD FTE - 60.0

Status:
- Introduced on February 4th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.

RI CDHH Position: N/A.

3) Mandated Insurance Coverage on Hearing Aids - New Change of Coverages.

SPONSOR: Rep. Handy

House Bill 7701

This bill is to increase the hearing aid medical insurance coverage for those insured under the age of nineteen (19) from $1,500 to full cost and for those age nineteen (19) and older from $700 to $1,500.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
03/10/2010 Committee transferred to House Health, Education, and Welfare Committee.
03/24/2010 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
03/24/2010 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



4) Mandated Insurance Coverage on Hearing Aids - New Change of Coverages.

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

Senate Bill 2202

This bill is to increase the hearing aid medical insurance coverage for those insured under the age of nineteen (19) from $1,500 to full cost and for those age nineteen (19) and older from $700 to $1,500.

Status:
- Introduced on February 9th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Service Committee.
03/03/2010 Scheduled for hearing
03/03/2010 Committee heard

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

5) Mandated Insurance Coverage on FDA Approved Implantable Hearing Devices including follow-ups, services, etc.

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

House Bill 7702

This bill is to require insurance to provide coverage on FDA approved implantable hearing devices that would cover pre-surgery services, surgery, and post-surgergy services including aural habilitation, therapies, and trainings. This includes cochlear implants, BAHA, and implantable hearing aids.

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Corporation Committee.
03/10/2010 Committee transferred to House Health, Education and Welfare Committee.
03/24/2010 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
03/24/2010 Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

6) Mandated Insurance Coverage on FDA Approved Implantable Hearing Devices including follow-ups, services, etc.

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

Senate Bill 2492

This bill is to require insurance to provide coverage on FDA approved implantable hearing devices that would cover pre-surgery services, surgery, and post-surgergy services including aural habilitation, therapies, and trainings. This includes cochlear implants, BAHA, and implantable hearing aids.

Status:
- Introduced on February 11th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Service Committee.
03/03/2010 Scheduled for hearing
03/03/2010 Committee heard

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

7) This act would require movie theaters with ten (10) 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. Handy.

House Bill XXXX

This bill is to amend by adding the section that movie theaters with 10 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:
.The bill number has not been assigned yet.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

8) This act would require movie theaters with ten (10) 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 and Senator Bates.

Senate Bill 2287

This bill is to amend by adding the section that movie theaters with 10 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 11th and then, referred to Senate Health and Human Services Committee.
03/03/2010 Scheduled for hearing
03/03/2010 Committee heard

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.

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

SPONSOR: Rep. Handy and Rep. Naughton .

House Bill 7752

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 Health, Education, & Welfare Committee.
03/24/2010 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration.
03/24/2010 Committee recommended measure be held for further study.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



10) This act would require that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state-sponsored websites be made accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

SPONSOR: Rep. Handy and Rep. Naughton

House Bill 7786

This bill is to add the new section that all video clips and voice-recorded clips on state-sponsored websites be made accessible to people who are deaf and hard of hearing..

Status:
- Introduced on February 25th and then, referred to House Judiciary Committee.
03/10/2010 Committee transferred to House Health, Education, and Welfare Committee.
03/24/2010 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration
03/24/2010 Committee recommended measure be held for further study

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



11) This act would establish the emergency communication and public telecommunication access fund to create an emergency communication program for the deaf and hard of hearing.

SPONSOR: Rep. Naughton and Rep. Handy.

House Bill 7735

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 Finance Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH supports it.



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

SPONSOR: Rep. Fierro, Rep. Ajello, Rep. Pacheco, Rep. Segal, and Rep. Guthrie

House Bill 7446

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 11th and then, referred to House Finance Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH opposes to eliminate captioning on political TV ads unless it is amended to include it on HB 7446.



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

SPONSOR: Senator Perry, Senator DiPalma, Senator Miller, Senator Doyle, and Senator DeVall

Senate Bill 2454

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 11th and then, referred to Senate Judiciary Committee.

RI CDHH Position: RICDHH opposes to eliminate captioning on political TV ads unless it is amended to include it on SB 2454.