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The State Capitol offers a variety of services and assistive technology
to ensure that visitors who are
deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing have access to information,
and also to legislators, legislative staff,
committee hearings,
and House and Senate floor sessions.
Sign Language Interpreters can be provided to visitors to allow them to
meet with a legislator or legislative staff member,
attend a legislative committee hearing,
or watch a House or Senate floor session.
There are several ways to arrange for
Sign Language Interpreter services at the State Capitol.
No matter which way you choose,
please make your request at least 24 hours in advance
and be specific about
what you need for interpreting services such as ASL,
Signed English, tactile, or others.
If you plan to meet with a legislator, please contact the legislator's office
at least 24 hours before you want to meet the legislator.
Tell the Legislative Assistant that you want to schedule a meeting
with your legislator and that you need a
Sign Language Interpreter for the meeting.
If you want to watch a floor session in either the House or Senate Gallery,
you can contact Communications Services for the Deaf, or CSD,
to request a Sign Language Interpreter.
If you want to attend or testify at a committee hearing,
there are two ways to request a Sign Language Interpreter.
You can contact the Committee Administrator or Committee Legislative Assistant,
or you can contact CSD.
If you want to meet with legislators or attend hearings outside the Twin Cities
and need to request a Sign Language Interpreter,
contact the Legislative Coordinating Commission.
You can also contact CSD.
You will be asked to provide
your name, your phone, videophone or TTY number,
the name of the committee or floor session and
if it is for the House or Senate,
the date, time and location of the meeting or
floor session you plan to attend,
the length of the meeting or floor session and
your preferences for interpreting, such as ASL,
Signed English, tactile, or others,
Assistive Listening Devices, or ALDs, can be obtained
from both the Sergeant-at-Arms for the House and the Senate.
Sound reinforcement systems have been installed in
15 committee hearing rooms in the State Office Building and the State Capitol.
ALDs also are available for use in the public galleries
of both the House and Senate Chambers.
Because each assistive listening device is programmed
to work in a specific room,
you will need to provide the room number where the hearing or meeting
will be held when you check out a device.
You can sign out an ALD for a Senate hearing room
at the Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms office.
You'll find the office on the Ground Floor of the State Capitol.
To check out an ALD for a House hearing room,
go to the office of the House Sergeant-at-Arms.
This is located on the first floor of the State Office Building.
You also can go to the appropriate committee room 30 minutes early
and ask a Page or other Committee staff member for an ALD.
If you're interested in watching a floor session from the Senate's Public Gallery,
simply ask the Sergeant-at-Arms at the desk at
the entrance to the Senate Chamber.
You can obtain an ALD for the House's Public Gallery
from the Chief Clerk's office on the second floor of the Capitol building.
This office is around the corner from the House Gallery.
Please remember to return the device at the end of
the meeting or floor session so that it will be
available to other visitors.
Communication Access Real-time Translation, or CART,
is an excellent option for visitors who are
deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing and want to read
captions to access information.
A CART reporter uses court reporting technology to
capture the spoken word and translate it instantly into captions.
The captions are then displayed on a computer monitor,
where the visitor who is deaf, deafblind or hard of hearing can read it.
CART services can be provided for visitors who want to
meet with legislators or their staff,
attend a legislative committee hearing or
observe a floor session in the House or Senate.
Because CART can be done remotely, people in Greater Minnesota
can use CART to communicate directly with their legislators and
participate in the legislative process without traveling to the Capitol.
If you want to request CART services,
please make your request at least 24 hours in advance.
If you plan to meet with a legislator,
please contact the legislator's office at least 24 hours
before you want to meet with the legislator.
Tell the Legislative Assistant that you want to
schedule a meeting with your legislator and that you need
CART services for the meeting.
If you want to watch a floor session or
attend or testify at a committee hearing,
you can request CART services by contacting the
Legislative Coordinating Commission.
The LCC can also arrange CART access for citizens who live in Greater Minnesota
or are unable to travel to the Capitol.
A TTY pay phone is located on the first floor
of the State Capitol building,
next to the Information Desk near the main entrance.
All pay phones are amplified and accessible for hearing aid users.
You also can contact the Senate through TTY.
You can use your preferred relay service, such as TTY, videophone, or other,
to contact the voice phone numbers for the House and for the Senate.
Visitors can watch live broadcasts
of floor sessions and committee hearings
on television monitors scattered throughout the public areas.
Coverage on Channel 17 is closed captioned on those monitors.
Live webcasts of both House and Senate committee hearings and
floor sessions are also closed captioned.
The Minnesota Historical Society conducts regular tours
of the State Capitol each weekday and on a
limited schedule during the weekend.
Sign language interpreters are available for these tours
but must be requested at least two weeks in advance.
For more information, contact the Minnesota Historical Society.