The legislative committees are deciding which bills will be included in omnibus bills. An omnibus bill is several bills combined into one big bill. MNCDHH is asking community members to contact the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and ask them to support communication access for all. Ask the committee to include closed captions in public places in the Senate Judiciary policy-only omnibus. 

Learn more about why it is important to support closed captioning in public places (PDF).  

Sample letter 

Dear Sen. [Last Name],

[If you live in the legislator's district, mention this now.]

I am writing to ask you to support including the language in SF2044, the bill that requires closed captioning to be enabled for TVs displayed in public places, in the Senate Judiciary policy-only omnibus bill.

The House Judiciary omnibus already includes the House's closed captioning bill language.

Twenty percent of Minnesotans have some degree of hearing loss, yet do not have the same access to information that their family members, friends, coworkers, and neighbors enjoy in public places.

This is a safety concern for emergency broadcasts, when it is essential to have access to time-sensitive public safety information. [If you have a personal story related to this, we recommend sharing it here.] 

There is no cost to the business for turning on captions as all televisions have built in captioning technology. I urge to support communication access for everyone and include captioning in public spaces in the Senate Judiciary omnibus.

Thank you,

[Your Name]

Who to contact

Contact any of the members of the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee. If one of the members represents your district, be sure to mention this in your message!

• Sen. Ron Latz, Chair - Sen. Latz's mail form
• Sen. Claire Oumou Verbeten, Vice Chair - Sen. Oumou Verbeten's mail form
• Sen. Warren Limmer, Ranking Minority Member - Sen. Limmer's mail form
• Sen. Jim Carlson - Sen. Carlson's mail form
• Sen. Justin D. Eichorn - Sen. Eichorn's mail form
• Sen. Jeff R. Howe - Sen. Howe's mail form
• Sen. Michael E. Kreun - Sen. Kreun's mail form
• Sen. Sandra L. Pappas - Sen. Pappas' mail form
• Sen. Judy Seeberger - Sen. Seeberger's mail form
• Sen. Bonnie S. Westlin - Sen. Westlin's mail form

 If you are not sure who your state senator is, you can use the "Who Represents Me" tool.