Arizona Official English Bill Awaits Senate Approval

If passed, voters would get the ultimate choice in 2006

With the legislative session in Arizona winding down, U.S. English, Inc. Chairman Mauro E. Mujica today told state senators in the Grand Canyon State to consider official English legislation without delay. House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 2030, which passed the House in March, would allow the citizens of Arizona to vote on making English the official language of the state. If approved by the Senate, the measure would be placed on the ballot in Nov. 2006.

"The people of Arizona deserve an up-or-down vote on this vital law," explained Mujica, "Three state senators have the responsibility to let the will of the people be heard: Majority Leader Ken Bennett, Majority Leader Tim Bee, and Majority Whip Jay Tibshraeny. If the people are denied a vote on this issue, they will have these three politicians to blame."

Passage of HCR 2030 would mark the second time in Arizona, and the eighth nationwide, where voters have been given the choice to make English the language of a state. Though the 1988 Arizona initiative was struck down by the state Supreme Court, the other bills remain law in Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida and Utah.

Five years ago, Arizonans used the initiative process to craft a sound language policy for students. In 2000, Arizona voters ousted existing bilingual education programs for non-English speaking students and replaced them with efforts to increase the amount of English spoken in the classroom. Last summer, the state announced that students enrolled in English immersion classes outperformed bilingual program students at all grade levels, with the gap widening at higher grade levels.

"The time has now come to adopt a language policy for the state,” continued Mujica. “We have never been an English Only nation, but we should never become an English Optional nation. This law would enact the common-sense policy that there is no state entitlement to a lifetime of services in other languages. Immigrants may need assistance for a reasonable amount of time, but they have a corresponding duty to learn our common language."

U.S. English, Inc. is the nation's oldest and largest non-partisan citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S. English, Inc. (www.usenglish.org) now has more than 1.8 million members.