Creating Closed Captioning Act

SB 537, the Closed Captioning Act, requires public venues like restaurants, bars, hospitals, and schools to activate closed captioning on at least half of their public-use televisions at all times. It applies to any location open to the public that displays television content, mandating that captioning remain enabled and preventing patrons from turning it off. Exceptions apply if no televisions are available or if all TVs lack captioning capability. The law takes effect upon passage and aims to improve accessibility for deaf or hard-of-hearing patrons in shared viewing spaces.