Oklahoma English bill faces language change

[Harold Schiffman]

Oklahoma English bill faces language change

 BY JULIE BISBEE
Published: April 23, 2009

The Senate approved a bill Wednesday night to let voters decide if
Oklahoma should make English its official language.

 BY JIM BECKEL, THE OKLAHOMAN

House Joint Resolution 1042 now returns to the House to have the
Senate amendments approved. The amended version of the bill passed the
Senate 44-2 with no debate. The Senate amendment is the product of
several days of discussion and compromise between Rep. Randy Terrill,
R-Moore, and Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid. Terrill’s bill pushed for
strict English-only policy that would allow citizens to sue state
agencies that were not complying with the English provision.
Anderson’s bill would make English the state’s "common” language and
would allow some publications to be published in a foreign language,
as dictated by federal law.

An amendment presented by Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, struck a
compromise between the two bills. The proposed language says all
"official actions of the state shall be conducted in English, except
as required by federal law.” The bill would not limit the use, study
or encouragement of American Indian languages. The amendment also says
an agency cannot be sued if it cannot provide materials in a language
other than English.

"The resolution states that English is the common and unifying
language of the state,” said Sykes, who was the Senate sponsor of
Terrill’s bill.

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-english-bill-faces-language-change/article/3363778


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