New Mexico Register / Volume XXXII,
Issue 20 / October 26, 2021
PUBLIC RULE
HEARING AND REGULAR BOARD MEETING
The New Mexico Signed Language
Interpreting Practices Board (“Board”) will hold a rule hearing on Tuesday, November
30, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. Following the rule hearing, the Board will convene a
board meeting to consider adoption of the rules and address regular business. The
rule hearing and board meeting will be held via Cisco Webex
Meetings.
The rule hearing and subsequent Board
meeting will be held via Cisco Webex Meetings. To
join the meeting, please visit: https://nmrld.webex.com/nmrld/onstage/g.php?MTID=e7263ace82440b9053632da14fbcbd7ec.
To join the meeting by phone:
1-415-655-0002
Access Code: 2482 696 1849
The purpose of the rule hearing is to
consider proposed amendments to the following rules:
16.28.2 NMAC - Education Requirements;
16.28.3 NMAC - Application and Licensure
Requirements
16.28.4 NMAC - Complaint Procedures;
Adjudicatory Proceedings
16.28.7 NMAC - Licensure for Military
Service Members, Spouses and Veterans
The amendments to Parts 4 and 7 of the
Board’s rules are primarily intended to address the legislative changes to the
Uniform Licensing Act (“ULA”), NMSA, 1978, Sections 61-1-1 through -36, (1951,
as amended through 2021), which occurred this past Legislative Session. See H.B. 120, 55th Leg., Reg, Sess.
(N.M. 2021), available at: https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/21%20Regular/final/HB0120.pdf and S.B. 2, 55th Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.M. 2021), available
at: https://www.nmlegis.gov/Sessions/21%20Special/final/SB0002.pdf. The
amendments to Part 4 are intended to incorporate the legislative changes
required by SB 2, which include the adoption by the Board of a list of
disqualifying criminal convictions which could disqualify an applicant for a
prior felony convictions. Additionally, the
amendments to Part 7 of the Board’s rules are intended to incorporate the
legislative changes required by House Bill 120. The amendments to Parts 2 and 3
are intended to comply with the provisions of the Signed Language Interpreting
Practices Act, Sections 61-34-1 through 17 NMSA 1978; and to clarify existing
provisions.
To obtain and review copies of the
proposed changes you may go to the Board’s website at: https://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/signed-language-interpreting-practices/slip-board-information/slip-board-meetings/
or contact the New Mexico Signed Language Interpreting Practices Board at (505)476-4622
or by email at signlanguage.board@state.nm.us.
The Board is currently accepting public
comments on the proposed amendments.
Please submit written comments on the proposed changes to Theresa
Montoya, Board Administrator, via electronic mail at signlanguage.board@state.nm.us
or by regular mail at P.O. Box 25101, Santa Fe, NM 87504, no later than Monday,
November 29, 2021. Persons will also be
given the opportunity to present their comments at the rule hearing. All written comments will be posted to the Board’s
website at: https://www.rld.nm.gov/boards-and-commissions/individual-boards-and-commissions/signed-language-interpreting-practices/slip-board-information/slip-board-meetings/,
no more than three business days following receipt to allow for public viewing.
An individual with a disability who is in
need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or other form
of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the hearing, please
contact Theresa Montoya, Board Administrator at (505) 476-4622.
Statutory
Authority: The
Signed Language Interpreting Practices Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 61-34-8, among
other provisions, specifically authorizes the Board to “promulgate rules
pursuant to the State Rules Act [Chapter 14, Article 4, 1978] to effectively
carry out and enforce provisions of the Signed Language Interpreting Practices
Act.”
Summary
of Proposed Changes:
In addition to making minor clarification
changes, the proposed rules are summarized as follows:
16.28.2
NMAC - Education Requirements
The amendments to this part clarify which
documents must be submitted by a provisional license application whose degree
is pending.
16.28.3
NMAC - Application and Licensure Requirements
The amendment to this part clarifies the
type of proof that may be submitted by a provisional license applicant in the
event that applicant has not completed an interpreter training program.
16.28.4
NMAC - Complaint Procedures; Adjudicatory Proceedings
The amendments to this part add a new
section to the rule so that it is in compliance with the 2021 legislative
changes made under SB2. The proposed
amendments to this rule establish which criminal felony convictions directly
relate to the employment or profession of signed language interpreting that may
disqualify an applicant or licensee from holding a license. The proposed amendment also defines how the
conviction may and/or may not be used when reviewing an application for
licensure or for violation of the Board’s statute or rules by a current licensee.
16.28.7.10
– Licensure for Military Service Members, Spouses and Veterans
The
amendments to this part includes new language so that the rule is in compliance
with the 2021 legislative change regarding HB120 Military Spouses Expedited
Licensure. The proposed amendments
changes the time for approving an application for license from sixty days to
thirty days and removes "recent" from the definition of veteran. The rule also sets out application and renewal
requirements.