2019 -- S 0171

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- APPROPRIATE DISABILITY

LANGUAGE

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Sosnowski, Seveney, Coyne, and Valverde

     Date Introduced: January 24, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Labor

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 22-11 of the General Laws entitled "Joint Committee on

Legislative Services" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     22-11-3.6. Revision of statutes - Appropriate disability language.

     The law revision director is authorized and empowered to amend statutes to ensure

statutes use appropriate disability language as required by § 43-3-7.1.

     SECTION 2. Section 36-3-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 36-3 entitled "Division of

Personnel Administration" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     36-3-5. Powers and duties of the administrator.

     In addition to the duties imposed upon the personnel administrator elsewhere in the law

and the personnel rules, it shall be the duty of the personnel administrator:

     (1) As executive head of the division of personnel administration, to direct, supervise,

develop, and authorize all personnel related administrative and technical activities including

personnel administration and personnel management.

     (2) To prepare and recommend to the director of administration such rules as are deemed

necessary to carry out the provisions of the law.

     (3) To supervise the operation of the classification plan and to recommend to the director

amendments and additions thereto.

     (4) To supervise the operation of the pay plan and to recommend to the director

amendments and additions thereto.

     (5) To establish and supervise the maintenance of employment lists, promotion lists, and

reemployment lists; to develop recruitment procedures, monitor agency recruitment processes for

compliance with the statutes and policies, and make available to state agencies qualified

candidates as vacancies occur; direct and supervise equal opportunity programs; manage

employee benefit plans including the coordination of health insurance, prescription/vision care,

group life insurance, dental care, prepaid legal services, deferred compensation and cancer

programs, and any other programs established by the legislature related to employee benefits; and

to manage career awards programs and state and local enforcement firefighters incentive training

programs.

     (6) To perform any other lawful act which he or she may consider necessary or desirable

to carry out the purposes and provisions of this chapter, and chapter 4 of this title, and the rules

and to conduct innovative demonstration projects to improve state personnel management.

     (7) The personnel administrator is authorized and empowered to revise job descriptions to

ensure the use of appropriate disability language as required by § 43-3-7.1.

     SECTION 3. Section 43-3-7.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 43-3 entitled

"Construction and Effect of Statutes" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     43-3-7.1. Use of appropriate disability language.

     (a) Whenever the terms "the handicapped", "handicap person", or "handicapped person"

are used in the general laws, they shall be replaced with the words "persons with disabilities" or

"person with a disability," inclusive, and whenever the term "handicap" is used in the general

laws, it shall be replaced with the word "disability"; provided that this section shall not be applied

retroactively but shall only be applied prospectively.

     (b) Whenever the term "developmental disability" or "developmental disabilities" or

"mentally retarded" or "retarded" are used in the general laws, they shall be replaced with the

words "intellectual and developmental disability".

     (c) Whenever the term "substance abuse" or "addict" are used in the general laws, they

shall be replaced with the words "substance use disorder".

     (b)(d) Whenever an act, resolution, statute, regulation, guideline, directive, job

description, or other document of a governmental entity refers to people with disabilities, terms

that stigmatize, like "the handicapped", "the disabled", "the blind", "the deaf", "the hearing

impaired", "cerebral palsied", "paralytic", "epileptic", "confined to a wheelchair", "wheelchair

bound", "lunatic", "idiot", "defective", "deformed", "victim", "suffers from", "mentally retarded",

"retarded", "addict", "substance abuser", etc., shall not be used. Language that puts the "person

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first", rather than the impairment or assistive device, such as "person with a disability", "child

who has mental illness", "worker who is deaf", "voter who uses a wheelchair", "person who is

hard-of-hearing", shall be used.

     SECTION 4. Chapter 42-64.13 of the General Laws entitled "Rhode Island Regulatory

Reform Act" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section:

     42-64.13-13. Revision of regulations - Appropriate disability language.

     The office of regulatory reform is authorized and empowered to ensure regulations use

appropriate disability language as required by § 43-3-7.1.

     SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2020.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO STATE AFFAIRS AND GOVERNMENT -- APPROPRIATE DISABILITY

LANGUAGE

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     This act would ensure appropriate disability language is used in job descriptions and

statutes.

     This act would take effect on January 1, 2020.

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