Official English Measures Introduced in Several State Legislatures

Bills already pending in Georgia, New Jersey, Oklahoma; others expected

As nearly all state legislatures commence their 2007 sessions, official English legislation has become a common talking point in capital cities from coast-to-coast. There are already bills pending in three legislatures, with representatives in three other states having announced their intention to file such measures. Following a year where more than 20 towns and counties considered making English the official language, the number of states with pending legislation is expected to grow over the next month.

“Given the push for official English legislation on the local level, I am pleased to see that such support is carrying over to the state level,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of the Board of U.S. English, Inc. “Citizens want to see policies that are consistent with the expectation that immigrants are on the road to learning English. After many months in their districts and on the campaign trail, legislators have heard voter frustrations with the current state of affairs.”

Recent polls have found strong support for enacting common language legislation. Surveys conducted last autumn in Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas revealed that more than 70 percent of the residents in each of those states favored making English the official language of state government. In addition to those polls, which found majority support across nearly every demographic, a Nov. 2006 Zogby poll showed that nearly two-thirds of Hispanics nationwide support official English policies.

Last year, official English measures were introduced in 14 states, including Arizona, where the resulting ballot initiative passed with 74 percent of the vote in November. Legislation to make English the official language also passed the House in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Delaware. To date, 28 states have made English their official language.

“As legislators in Arizona discovered, official English legislation can be unifying force across a divided electorate,” continued Mujica. “American citizens understand that we are a nation where many languages are spoken, but that our focus, and our government business, must always be centered on the English language. I look forward to working with legislators to enact official language legislation in the coming session and follow the voice of the people.”

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.