LAO AMENDMENT OVERVIEW
In 2001 , the San Francisco Board of Supervisors enacted the Equal Access to Services Ordinance . This was amended and renamed the Language Access Ordinance ( LAO ) in 2009 , when OCEIA was mandated to oversee compliance , and was amended again in 2015 and 2024 . The San Francisco LAO is considered one of the strongest local language laws in the nation , requiring all City departments that interact with or provide information to the public to provide language services , meet the requirements of the LAO , and report their data and progress on an annual basis .
The passage of amendments to the LAO in June 2024 marked the culmination of a collaborative , multi-year process involving the Board of Supervisors , City Administrator ’ s Office , Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs ( OCEIA ), Immigrant Rights Commission , and community-based organizations .
Formal discussions to amend the LAO began in 2021 . In spring 2021 , the Immigrant Rights Commission hosted two special hearings to learn from community-based organizations about the state of language access in San Francisco and explore improvements . During the summer of 2021 , OCEIA conducted a citywide Language Access Community Survey , collecting responses from more than 2,000 individuals in 11 languages about their experience accessing City services in their languages . The survey findings are included in OCEIA ’ s 2022 Language Access Compliance Summary Report .
In 2023 , representatives from the San Francisco Language Access Network , Self-Help for the Elderly , the South of Market Community Action Network , and other community-based organizations shared their assessment of community needs with the Immigrant Rights Commission , providing recommendations on how to improve language access in San Francisco .
After several meetings with community members , the Board of Supervisors passed amendments to the Language Access Ordinance in June 2024 . The Board of Supervisors also passed a resolution to guide programmatic improvements . Together , the amendments and resolution aim to address gaps in the City ’ s language services and improve language access in San Francisco .
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