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Sunday, January 30, 2011
Ind. Law - More on: What are "English only documents" and what is excepted?
Updating this ILB entry from Jan. 25th on HB 1255, which passed the House Jan. 24th on a vote of 63-26, Deanna Martin of the AP has a story today, in the Greenfield Daily Reporter, headed "Indiana proposal to have state documents in English only advancing despite questions." A few quotes from the long story:
[From] Sen. Mike Delph, a Republican from Carmel who is pushing an immigration bill that includes a provision similar to Crouch's bill. "By taking on the issue, you invite criticism of a racial bias and an ethnic bias and all these different things. From a political perspective, you don't want to have to deal with that. It puts you in a bad light."On top of the political considerations, there also seems to be plenty of practical questions surrounding the English language proposals, which are supported by national groups promoting the English language. Crouch's bill includes an exemption that says languages other than English may be used for state documents under certain circumstances, including when required by federal law, when needed to protect rights in court, for public health and safety reasons or to promote tourism.
It's unclear exactly what documents and agencies would be included in the bill and what wouldn't, some lawmakers argued, and Crouch didn't have a comprehensive list of state documents that are currently issued in other languages.
The Department of Revenue offers Spanish forms on its website and takes about 10,000 calls a year from Spanish-speaking residents who need help with their taxes in Spanish, said spokeswoman Stephanie McFarland. The department is seeking a specific exemption from the bill, saying it wants to continue to help those Spanish-speaking citizens — and collect their tax money.
The Bureau of Motor Vehicles currently offers written tests in Japanese and Spanish, a spokesman said, but the portion of the tests dealing with road signs is in English. It's unclear whether the proposal would require a change, and the BMV has not requested an exemption. Rep. Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Hammond, said the exams are an important public safety issue because permanent residents are not required to know English as citizens are. * * *
Supporters said the state should promote the English language.
"We are making our statement that even though we're a diverse country, we have one official language, and it's English," said Rep. Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville.
Delph said Indiana residents are tired of pressing "1" for English when calling businesses, or hearing Spanish announcements over the Wal-Mart intercom or struggling to understand a worker in the McDonald's drive-thru. While the proposal doesn't address those issues, he said it does send a message that English is clearly the state's official language. The state's website shouldn't have Spanish pages, he said, and state universities shouldn't print applications for foreign students in different languages at taxpayer expense.
Crouch's bill passed the House on a 63-26 vote, with a handful of Democrats joining Republicans to approve the measure and several Republicans voting against it. That bill now heads to the Senate, and Delph's immigration bill is slated to get a Senate hearing Feb. 2.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 30, 2011 12:11 PM
Posted to Indiana Law