Nashville English Initiative: Setting the Record StraightOfficial English legislation and foreign investmentJanuary 16, 2009
Official English Legislation and Foreign Investment Recent news articles about Nashville’s upcoming official English ballot initiative have been filled with predictions of outcomes should the measure pass. Unfortunately, none of these predictions have been supported by the wealth of national and international experience of the actual outcomes official English laws. In the days leading up to the Jan. 22 vote, U.S. English, Inc. will produce briefings highlighting the true facts obscured by some of these unfounded claims.
Opponents of official English legislation often claim that the legislation will discourage foreign investments in the state. Nothing could be further from the truth. Overseas businesses looking to build manufacturing facilities in the United States are lured by economic opportunities, tax incentives and the availability of workers. Given that more than 90 percent of the world’s nations have an official language, foreign business leaders are hardly surprised by official language laws in other countries. Actual business transactions refute any claim that official English laws have a negative effect on foreign investment. The Japanese car manufacturer Toyota has American manufacturing facilities in Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama. Hyundai has a plant in Alabama, Volvo in Virginia, Kia in Georgia, Honda in Alabama, Nissan in Mississippi, BMW in South Carolina, Mercedes in Alabama. All of these states have English as their official language. Furthermore, the passage of official English legislation does not diminish foreign tourism. Both Georgia and Utah passed official English legislation in the 18 months prior to hosting the Olympics. In both cases, opponents predicted that the passage of a law would have an adverse effect on attendance. However, The 1996 games in Atlanta set a record with 8.3 million tickets sold, while the 2002 Salt Lake City games sold the second highest number of tickets for a Winter Olympics.
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