Money Gov. Lincoln Almond allocated for the Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs last month could be used on a variety of issues, from hiring a lobbyist to providing funds for outreach programs designed to encourage non-English speaking residents to fill out the upcoming census.
Until now the commission, which was created in 1991 under Gov. Bruce Sundlun, had not received state funding, according to Chairwoman Marta V. Martinez. And, Martinez said, she feels it was “unfortunate” the commission didn’t even get the $10,000 allocation “until we put up a stink.”
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Lisa Pelosi, a spokesperson for the governor, explained the Hispanic commission doesn’t receive funding, because of the way it was originally set up. It was formed as a “study group” to keep the governor’s office aware of issues in the Hispanic community, and as a resource when the governor is looking for nominees for various positions he must fill, Pelosi explained. Some commissions are mandated and receive federal funding, others are founded through General Assembly action that often includes budget appropriations, she added.
For instance, the Rhode Island Commission on Women receives an annual appropriation, which was $116,960 in fiscal 1999.
Almond used money from a contingency fund for the Hispanic commission, Pelosi added. That came after Martinez met with Almond’s staff and outlined some of the group’s goals. “In reviewing what the intentions were for the commission, the governor thought a little financial help would help achieve those goals,” Pelosi said.
As it stands now, the commission will have to request funding for projects each year, according to Pelosi.
Martinez said commission members plan to ask the General Assembly to create a regular budget appropriation.
We’re supposed to keep (the governor) up to speed on what’s happening” within the Hispanic community, Martinez said. It is a role she feels is particularly important since none of Rhode Island’s five, statewide-elected officials (governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general) is of Hispanic descent.
“We just make sure we’re represented properly; if we are not, we try to lobby one way or another,” she explained.
The $10,000 will be put to use helping the commission follow up on State House activities, such as lobbying for a law that would establish a formal training and certification process for courthouse language interpreters. Commission members have been working for two-and-a-half years on that legislation, which they hope would make it easier for non-English speaking people to understand their rights and be heard in court, Martinez said.
“We feel the state should train interpreters and test them on occasion,” she said. “They’re not. Again they’re using the family members, that’s unethical. There hasn’t been a case where people have gone to jail, because of bad interpreting; they have had to stop cases because of interpreting.”
A commission supported bill, which Martinez helped research and write, passed in the state Senate earlier this session and was scheduled for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee last Wednesday.
The commission can have up to 20 members and meets monthly. It now only has 12 members – all of whom are volunteers. “We don’t have any staff, which is what part of this money is going to be used for,” she said.
Among the other issues now dominating the commission’s agenda: preparing for the year 2000 census.
Federal funding for many programs is based on census results, including assistance for educational systems with a high percentage of children whose native language is not English. For instance, Central Falls receives money to translate its voting ballots into Spanish because its census figures show a high concentration of Spanish speaking residents, Martinez said.
Some foreign-born residents don’t fill out census forms, because they distrust government, they can’t read the English version, and they don’t understand what the forms are used for, Martinez explained.
Ed Larkin, a spokesman from the U.S. Department of Commerce in Boston, said census information is kept confidential from all other government agencies. The census will be available in six different languages this time: English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. Those versions will be mailed out in census tracts – clusters of about 4,000 people – where half the population speaks that language, Larkin explained.
