Great news! HCS HB
181 as amended was read a third time and passed
the Missouri Senate on 5/8/07 by a vote of 34-0.
HSC HB 181 had earlier
passed the Missouri House by a vote of 146-13, so
now it is awaiting the
Governor’s signature. Assuming that Governor Blunt
signs the bill (and
we have no indication that he won’t) it will become
law on August 28th.
If signed into law the bill will require that
beginning January 1, 2008
manufacturers and publishers of electronic video
instructional materials
(CD, DVD, videotape, film, etc) offered for adoption
or sale in Missouri
must supply those materials with either open or
closed captions, or the
manufacturers and publishers will be liable to
purchasers for three times
the cost of adding captions. And, if signed into
law, Missouri would be
the first state in the country to adopt such a law.
As schools replace their
stock of old video instructional materials, this
will mean that all videos
purchased by Missouri schools will have captions and
the educational
experience of deaf and hard of hearing students will
be improved. The
Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
will keep you
informed regarding the status of this bill.
