Panel approves amendment moving accommodation 'interactive process' language into statute

Sen. Erin Maye Quade presented Senate File 3210 to enshrine reasonable-accommodation and Section 504 protections into the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Advocates testified the state's interactive process for determining accommodations frequently fails, producing denials for people who rely on communication or sensory adjustments.

A government relations director for the Minnesota Commission for the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing said staff repeatedly encounter examples where video remote interpreting (VRI) was substituted for on-site interpreters even when in-person services were necessary. "This means that instead of a living, breathing human being with exhaustive training to accommodate a wide range of needs, that consumer is given a contraption," the witness said.

Jillian Nelson of the Autism Society of Minnesota described how people with invisible disabilities often need tailored solutions — written instructions, sensory breaks or closed captioning — and urged codifying an obligation to engage in the interactive process. Committee members debated whether the relevant language should be in the statute's substantive provision or only in the policy statement; Sen. Kreun offered an oral amendment placing the "failure to engage" language into the statute, which the sponsor accepted. The committee then recommended SF3210 as amended to pass and be sent to the Senate floor.