Rep. Jonathan Brostoff, D-Milwaukee, has traditionally had close-cropped hair, but is now growing it out to raise awareness for legislation addressing a shortage in skilled sign language interpreters. He says he is doing so to “let them know I’m with them, that I’m and ally.” He adds that he wants to make sure people in sensitive situations like hospitals “are getting appropriate care.”
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State Rep Grows Hair to Push for Legislation
Frederica Freyberg: Remember when then State Rep Tom Nelson slept at his desk in the state Assembly chambers in protest over the state budget impasse? In tonight’s inside look, we’ve got another state representative trying to draw attention to stalled legislation. Milwaukee Democrat Jonathan Brostoff has vowed not to cut his hair until a specific bill is passed. Representative Brostoff, thanks very much for joining us.
Jonathan Brostoff: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Frederica Freyberg: So we can see the difference. We had a before shot and now you here today but why don’t you tell us what you’re doing in protest.
Jonathan Brostoff: I wouldn’t actually classify it as a protest per se. I think it’s more so just a commitment I’ve made to a number of the members of the deaf community leaders who I’ve been working with across the state on passing their legislation. And basically, especially for the deaf community, it’s a visual indicator, saying I’m with you and we’re not going to stop until we get this done. So it’s more so kind of like a working arrangement between me and them. And just letting them know I’m with them. I’m their ally and every time they see me, they’re going to know I’m going to continue my work on it. But it kind of got covered by a local media source and kind of blew up like that, but it’s more so just a kind of personal commitment between me and some of the stakeholders who I’ve been working with.
Frederica Freyberg: So tell me what your commitment is. What are you seeking to do?
Jonathan Brostoff: Sure. So we’ve been working for years now on a bill for the deaf community. Basically updating the sign language interpreting laws in Wisconsin. And it’s a fairly technical bill but in essence, it would create more access for the deaf community, more accountability for the deaf community and it would get a lot more sign language interpreters back to work in Wisconsin, which would help with the scarcity issue we currently have.
Frederica Freyberg: So the legislation would create a new licensing board for sign language interpreters. What is the holdup on this?
Jonathan Brostoff: Well, we enjoyed broad bipartisan support in the Assembly. In fact we had basically unanimous support in Assembly, so all 99 members. It went through committee, no problem. It passed the executive session, in committee unanimously. And when it got to the Senate, it stalled last time around, which isn’t terribly uncommon, but it was a big blow to the deaf community because of how important this legislation is. And folks are really torn up, understandably so, afterwards. So I basically said, you know, this is going to be a number one priority and we’re not going to stop until we get it done. And I’ve been thankful to have colleagues like Representative Skowronski, former Representative Kleefisch and Senator Testin and other Republicans and Democrats who are going to continue to work on this and who also understand how imperative it is that we advance deaf rights in Wisconsin and get this bill passed.
Frederica Freyberg: Describe for me what this legislation would do again. I know it creates a licensing board but then it sets up kind of tiers of different experience and education that these interpreters would need to have. Describe that.
Jonathan Brostoff: Yeah, exactly. So basically in a nutshell, it’s matching interpreters at the education and skill level they’re at with the jobs that are appropriate for them. And this is especially relevant for a situation such as medical, mental health, and legal, where the nature of the work is a little more technical. And it’s also a little more high stakes, given what folks are working on. So this would more clearly define the scope of practice as well.
Frederica Freyberg: So you would have to have an advanced level interpreter to do things like medical kinds of signing or legal or perhaps if a hearing impaired person is having an interaction with law enforcement, for example, and why is that important?
Jonathan Brostoff: Well, I can actually explain it by a quick example of a young Wisconsin woman who came to testify at one of the first deaf legislative days, Theresa. She was seeking medical attention in a rural Wisconsin hospital, and although before she got there, she informed them that she needed a live interpreter who was up to par, she was not provided that. And long story short, she basically ended up getting the wrong surgery performed on her. This was very critical to her health. And so she’s kind of made this her life’s work now. And I think she’s going to end up being a civil rights lawyer so she can protect others in the situation, but we want to make sure in sensitive situations like that, people are getting the exact appropriate care and when you’re relying on someone to communicate that information properly, you need to make sure that the skill level and appropriate amount of information is being transmitted in a critical time. So you want to have that scope of practice well defined as our bill does.
Frederica Freyberg: Now a licensing board would also be able to investigate violations and make findings. Why is that important?
Jonathan Brostoff: Correct. So one of the issues we heard, and I toured all over the state and I met with folks from rural areas and from urban areas and from different scopes of life. And among the deaf community that I met with, one thing was very consistent which was, they wanted a mechanism for accountability in the bill that doesn’t currently exist. So right now there’s no real effective way to go after someone who’s practicing illegally. And that’s something that a lot of people were very concerned with. Although it’s not necessarily a widespread issue and we don’t have tons of illegal interpreters, you know, trying to harm people. For the people whose lives it affects, it was something that they made sure to let me know was a priority. So we had to include that, absolutely, in the bill. So it offers that level of accountability that doesn’t currently exist.
Frederica Freyberg: All right. Well, Representative Brostoff, thank you very much for joining us and describing what you’re doing.
Jonathan Brostoff: Thank you, and thanks for your work.
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