July 6, 2004 |
2004-R-0544 | |
ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL STATE LANGUAGE | ||
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By: Jennifer Gelb, Associate Attorney | ||
You asked if legislation has ever been proposed to make English the official language in Connecticut or its surrounding states.
SUMMARY
Since 1989, Connecticut legislators have proposed 17 bills and resolutions suggesting that English become the official state language. Such laws already exist in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Similar legislation has also been put forward in Maine and New York. Rhode Island and Vermont have not proposed such legislation in recent years.
CONNECTICUT
Connecticut legislators proposed resolutions in 1989 and 2003 to amend the constitution to make English the official state language. They also proposed bills to make English the official state language in 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, and 2003. Most of these bills and resolutions were referred to the Government Administration and Elections Committee, but none was ever reported out.
MAINE
During Maine's 119th Legislature, which ran from 1999 to 2000, legislators proposed LD 246, which would have made English the state's official language. The bill was referred to the Committee on State and Local Government, where it died.
MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts does not have a statute declaring English to be the Commonwealth's official language, but it does have a 1975 court case stating as much. In Commonwealth v. Olivo, the Supreme Judicial Court held that a notification to vacate condemned apartments that was printed only in English was sufficient notice to the non-English speaking tenants such that their failure to vacate could warrant criminal charges. In so finding, the court held that “[t]his is not an officially multilingual country, and notification of official matters in the sole official language of both this nation and this Commonwealth is patently reasonable” (369 Mass. 62, 73 (1975)). This ruling has been interpreted as declaring English the Commonwealth's official language.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
New Hampshire law declares English to be the official state language, subject to a few exceptions. The law, enacted in 1995, also designates English as “the language of all official public documents and records, and of all public proceedings and nonpublic sessions” (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 003-C:1-6). It creates the following exceptions in which English does not have to be used:
1. public proceedings between New Hampshire and Quebec where it is necessary to use French;
2. foreign language or other courses in the state university system;
3. instruction to transition students with limited English proficiency into mainstream classes;
4. promotion of international commerce, tourism, and sporting events;
5. when requiring English is deemed to interfere with the needs of the justice system;
6. when the public good, public safety, health, or emergency services require the use of other languages; and
7. if expert testimony or witnesses require languages other than English, provided the official version of the testimony or commentary is the officially translated English-language version.
NEW YORK
New York legislators have proposed several bills and constitutional amendments to make English the official state language, but none has succeeded. Most recently, Assembly Bill 2770 was referred to the Education Committee in January 2003, held for consideration in Education in April 2003, and referred again to Education in January 2004. No further action has been taken on the bill, which would (1) make English the official language of New York state; (2) require English to be used to conduct all official state business; and (3) direct the legislature to enact laws to ensure that English is written, spoken, and understood by all.
JG:ts