The Arizona House of Representatives amended a bill that would make the English version of insurance contracts the binding contract between parties. That means documents translated into another language would not be held to the same standard.
The bill is being pushed by several insurance companies who say they’re afraid to offer non-English policies for fear the translation may not accurately reflect what the company is offering. Under current law, that could lead to litigation.
Democratic Rep. Isela Blanc said Spanish-speaking customers could end up buying insurance based on terms that were mistranslated. But Republican Rep. Mark Finchem disagrees.
"We spend hundreds of millions of dollars every year in the public school system for English language learning," Finchem said. "So to say that it's unfair, everybody's given an equal opportunity to learn the language so that when it comes time for them to be an adult and look through a contract and understand what they're signing up for, they have a clear understanding of what that is.
The bill passed the house and now heads to the Senate.