English language bill clears House
BOISE – Lawmakers sent a clear message Monday that English should be Idaho’s official language.
After a lengthy debate, the House voted 46-20 to pass Senate Bill 1172, which restricts government business to English with a few exceptions, such as for law enforcement and public schools. Opponents cast the bill as discriminatory toward Latinos and other immigrants, but supporters contended it encourages diversity and unifies Idahoans.
Narrowly passed by the Senate earlier this month, the bill heads to Gov. Butch Otter for approval.
Idaho law requires some official documents filed by state and local governments to be written in English or accompanied by a certified English translation.
Some government workers, such as school employees, could be prohibited from using non-English languages under current law, argued Rep. Dell Raybould, R-Rexburg, a bill sponsor. He said the bill offers needed exceptions to prevent people from unwittingly breaking the law.
SB 1172 states that children and adults should learn English quickly, and that schools should both encourage English as a second language and foreign languages. It also requires agencies to return money for non-exempt services or publications in foreign languages.
Existing law has a narrow scope that applies only to certain records, not agencies’ pamphlets or other government uses of non-English languages, said Bob Cooper, spokesman for the Idaho attorney general’s office.
Raybould pointed out that the bill does not restrict private citizens or businesses from speaking other languages. It is not an English-only bill, he asserted. “It is just the opposite of that,” he said. Some legislators, however, didn’t buy Raybould’s view. Rep. Nicole LeFavour, D-Boise, contended that the legislation is “more intended to ask people to learn English,” which she called a “really sad” message.
Rep. Les Bock, D-Boise, recounted the parable of the Good Samaritan, saying lawmakers would “sleep better tonight” if they helped their neighbors who don’t speak English.
“I want you to think if it is right to poke a whole group of people in the eye just to make a point,” he said.
Raybould later replied that when Jesus told the parable, “Jesus answered him in a language he could understand.”
Arguing for the bill, Rep. Frank Henderson, R-Post Falls, said English is “the commercial language of the world” and knowing one language is not a barrier to U.S. students.
“I personally think it’s overdue,” he said. “This is a great bill.”
Former high school government teacher Rep. George Sayler, D-Coeur d’Alene, said his grandparents were German-speaking immigrants, but he knows little German, like most third-generation Americans.
The United States has always had language diversity, he said. The Continental Congress opposed an official language academy as an improper role for government, and early statesmen published journals in French and German, he said.
Sayler pointed out the nation’s Latin motto, “E Pluribus Unum,” which means “out of many, one.”
“We should not give in to the political pressure of the moment to change that,” he said.