English Language Unites

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Official English wins by a landslide in Missouri

On Nov. 4th Missouri voters overwhelming passed a constitutional amendment to make English the official language of their state government. By a 7-1 margin (86 percent) Missouri voters voted to enshrine English as the official language in the state constitution. All official proceedings in Missouri must now be conducted exclusively in English and English must be used at “all governmental meetings at which any public business is discussed, decided, or public policy is formulated.”

Rep. Virginia Foxx introduces the Multilingual Services Accounting Act

U.S. Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC) introduced H.R. 7092, the Multilingual Services Accounting Act, to account for multilingual services provided by the federal government.  This bill would require the federal government to account for how much the taxpayers are paying for multilingual services.  H.R. 7092 requires government agencies to disclose their expenditures on multilingual services in their annual accountability reports each year.  The bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Nashville City Councilman submits petitions for special election on English

Today Nashville Metro Councilman Eric Crafton submitted more than 5,000 signed petitions to the city clerk’s office calling for a special election on making English the official language of Nashville.

The number was more than twice the 2,500 signatures of registered voters needed to qualify a charter amendment for a January special-election ballot.  In August Crafton turned in more than 12,400 signatures in an effort to qualify a similar referendum for the November election. But the Nashville Elections Commission ruled the petition was three days short of meeting the requirement that referendums can be submitted only “once every two years” in the Nashville charter.

A low voter turnout in a recent general election reduced the number of signatures Crafton needed to qualify the new petition. Like most other local official English laws, Crafton’s charter amendment makes English the official language of Nashville but has exceptions for complying with state and federal law and to protect public health and safety.

ProEnglish gives Rep. Steve King (IA) American Unity Award

“We are very pleased to award the Theodore Roosevelt American Unity award for the 110^th Congress to Representative Steve King of Iowa,” ProEnglish Executive Director K.C. McAlpin announced today at a brief presentation ceremony on Capitol Hill.

The award is given biennially to recognize the legislator in every Congress whose leadership in working to preserve and protect the nation’s linguistic unity in the English language best exemplifies U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s commitment to American national unity. The recipient is chosen by ProEnglish’s national board of directors.

King’s signature bill, H.R. 997, “The English Language Unity Act,” has attracted the bipartisan support of 152 members of the House of Representatives, more than one third of the entire House. Despite this enormous level of support and polls that consistently show an overwhelming majority of 83 to 87 percent of the American people – including solid majorities of minority voters – want to make English our official English, the House leadership has refused to take up his bill,” McAlpin said.

House passes bill to stop Mexican Truck Program

Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6630, a bill that would end a pilot program that allows Mexican trucks to operate within the U.S. under the authority of the U.S. Department of Transportation.  The bill also prohibits the government from granting Mexican trucks access beyond the commercial zones along the southwest border without the express authorization of Congress.  The U.S. Department of Transportation launched the program in 2007 and since then has allowed access to 100 Mexican trucking companies beyond a designated zone of border cities and municipalities.  H.R. 6630 would put a stop to this program.  The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Metro legal department says English-first initiative is illegal

Opponents of Nashville’s official English initiative are going all-out to keep the measure off the Nov. ballot. The city’s legal department has issued an opinion saying the measure violates the rule that initiatives can be submitted only once every two years. It bases its interpretation on a strict application of a 365 day year instead of the election cycle. The opinion argues that since a voter initiative appeared on the ballot on Nov. 7, 2006, this year’s general election on Nov. 4 falls three days too soon. The department also interprets “submitted” to mean submitted to the voters rather than submitted for validation. “What they are trying to do is create a stalling tactic to keep the people from voting on this measure. … We will do whatever it takes, if it takes a day in court to get this measure on the ballot and make sure that the people’s voice gets to be heard,” said Eric Crafton, Metro Councilman. The Election Commission meets today to review and certify the petition signatures. This issue must be resolved by mid-September in order to print the initiative on the ballot.

Nashville Update

Today the Nashville Election Commission certified the required 10,103 signatures needed to put the official English ordinance on the ballot for voter approval this November.

Judge upholds Kansas school’s speak English rule

In a case that drew national attention, a federal judge upheld the right of St. Anne’s Catholic School in Wichita, Kansas and its local diocese to require students to speak English at school. U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Hispanic student, Adam Silva, whose parents had challenged the school’s policy charging it was illegal national origin discrimination.

ProEnglish assisted the school’s legal team and hired a local attorney to represent two St. Anne’s students who were deposed or required to answer questions from the plaintiff’s attorney.

Nashville English initiative passes first hurdle

Aug. 14, 2008

A Nashville official English group led by Metro Councilman Eric Crafton submitted 12,503 petitions from registered voters to the Nashville City Clerk’s office today, one day before the August 15, 2008 qualifying deadline. The number was 2,400 more than the 10,103 petitions needed to put an official English ordinance on the ballot for voter approval this November. The action came in the wake of Crafton’s effort to pass an official English ordinance in 2007 that passed the city council, but was later vetoed by Mayor Bill Purcell.

If the initiative is certified and voters pass it, Nashville will become the largest city in the nation with English as its official language. ProEnglish contributed legal expertise and most of the funding for the initiative campaign.