Wisconsin Assembly Votes to Make English the Official Language

The Wisconsin Assembly voted 57-40 early this morning to make English the official language of the state and require accountability for the printing of documents in other languages. This marks the first time that a bill to make English the official language has passed in a chamber of the Wisconsin legislature.

In addition to making English the official language of Wisconsin, Assembly Bill 806 would require Wisconsin government agencies to print all written documents in English, except where provided by existing law or in the implementation of specific programs. The bill would also require government agencies to record expenditures for printing documents in languages other than English. A.B. 806 now heads to the Senate for consideration.

“Wisconsin has long been a state of diverse immigrants linked by the ability to communicate in our common language of English,” said Mauro E. Mujica, Chairman of U.S. English, Inc. “As the state welcomes the next generation of newcomers, it must take steps to ensure that these immigrants are on the road to learning English and not being misled by the crutch of perpetual government multilingualism. I am pleased to see that a strong majority of the Assembly understands that while Wisconsin should never be an ‘English-only’ state, it must never become an ‘English-optional’ state.”

Recent polls have found strong support for making English the official language among residents of Wisconsin. A December 2007 survey by Rasmussen Reports found that 79 percent of Wisconsin residents support making English the official language. The poll of 500 likely voters has a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points.

To date, 30 states have made English their official language, most recently Arizona in 2006 and Kansas and Idaho in 2007. Currently, legislation is pending in 11 states that have yet to adopt official English laws – Delaware, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Over the last three years, five of these states have passed official English bills through at least one chamber of the legislature.