B 26-0722 Legislature · 26th Council Period (2025-2026)

Language Access Rulemaking Authority Temporary Amendment Act of 2026

This bill temporarily authorizes the Mayor of the District of Columbia to issue rules that implement the existing Language Access Act of 2004. Currently, the act lacks specific provisions allowing the Mayor to create these necessary regulations, so this legislation fills that gap by granting rulemaking authority for a limited period. The law is designed to take effect immediately upon approval and will automatically expire after 225 days, ensuring the authority remains temporary. This change directly affects government agencies and departments that must comply with language access requirements for residents and visitors.
Bill status in committee 3 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Jul 2026
Committee Review
Jul 2026
Council Passage
Jul 2026
Governor
Introduced Jul 1, 2026 Last action Jul 14, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → Engrossment · 2 edits
MINOR
The transition from Introduction to Engrossment for this bill involves only the removal of the Mayor's transmittal letter and correction of scanning/OCR formatting artifacts. The substantive text of the bill is unchanged between versions.
TECHNICAL

The Mayor's transmittal letter to Chairman Mendelson was removed, which is standard when a bill moves from introduction to engrossment.

Numerous OCR and formatting errors present in the scanned introduction version (e.g., garbled text like 'Lmpag:e.AccessAd', '1 emporuy Amendment A.ct') were corrected to clean, readable text in the engrossed version. No substantive policy language was altered.

Floor votes · Council Jul 14, 2026

How they voted

13–0
Passed
Total votes 13
Jul 14, 2026
D Democratic11
11 Yea
100% Yea
I Independent2
2 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
1
Committee
1
Jul 14, 2026
Council · Passed
Council Vote: pass (13-0)
council
Jul 14, 2026
Committee
Retained by the Council with comments from the Committee on Public Works and Operations
legislature
Jul 1, 2026
Introduced
B26-0722 Introduced by Chairman Mendelson at Office of the Secretary
legislature
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Phil Mendelson
Phil Mendelson
DDemocratic
DC
Chairman