“SANTA FE — New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (NMCLP) announced that Wednesday, after over a decade of work by families and community leaders seeking fair access to state agencies for New Mexicans who don’t speak English, the governor signed a bill mandating state agencies create and implement plans for translation and interpretation services. 

House Bill 22: Limited English Access To State Programs goes into effect July 2023.

“This law will ensure more New Mexicans their rights to public resources, alleviate small grassroots organizations of the burden of being a catch-all to fill gaps in accessible services, and give informed decision-making power and agency back to New Mexicans,” said Sachi Watase of the New Mexico Asian Family Center. “Our communities have asked for equitable language access. Today, we are thrilled that our state is taking this step to honor the commitment and decades of work from my predecessors and ancestors, community-based organizations and advocates, our bill sponsors, legislators and public officials, essential workers who have witnessed the harm language barriers have caused first-hand, and of course, the generations of individuals, families, communities and allies across New Mexico who have worked tirelessly to lay the groundwork to help us get here today.”

Sponsored by Representatives Kay Bounkeua and Patricia Roybal Caballero and Senators Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez and Mimi Stewart, HB 22 requires all state agencies with secretaries to collect data on language use by families the agency serves and to develop and implement plans for ensuring meaningful access to state services through translation and interpretation. 

“Our state’s cultures and languages are some of our greatest strengths,” NMCLP attorney Verenice Peregrino Pompa said. “We thank the governor for demonstrating her commitment to racial justice by signing this bill into law. We also thank the bill’s sponsors and the New Mexico Asian Family Center for leading this effort for fair access to state services for all New Mexicans regardless of the language they speak.””

Governor Signs Bill Ensuring New Mexicans Speaking Languages Other Than English Can Access State Services (ladailypost.com)

“Our languages are some of our greatest strengths. We thank the governor for demonstrating her commitment to racial justice by signing HB 22, the bill’s sponsors & @nmasianfamily for leading this effort for fair access to state services for all.” https://t.co/DjBCL4CxAQ #nmleg

— NM Center on Law & Poverty (@NMPovertyLaw) March 14, 2022