Legislation 2008

LEGISLATION 2008

Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard-of-Hearing Renamed and Clarified Scope of Work

The Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing People changed its name to the Commission of Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans in order to be inclusive of families and individuals who are deafblind. MCDHH’s advising role has been expanded to include Minnesota’s judicial branch in addition to the legislature and executive branches. The statute also enables MCDHH to hold meetings electronically so that all participants do not need to be physically present to conduct MCDHH business.

HF3735= / SF3364=

Political Candidates Running for State Offices are Required to Caption Campaign Ads

Political candidates running for a state office who take the public subsidy must make their campaign advertisements more accessible by including closed captioning in commercials and online videos. Captioning must be used in ads that are professionally produced and are two minutes or less. A transcript should be provided on the candidate’s website for all of the campaign’s radio advertisements. If the candidate does not want include closed captioning she or he can provide a transcript of the ad on the campaign’s website. The candidate is also not required to caption if she or he submitted the reasons for not captioning with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board prior to the dissemination of the ad.

HF 3172