State Legislative Update - Apr. 30, 2009

Oklahoma – Legislation that would give voters the opportunity to make English the official language of the state has passed the House and Senate. The current measure, which passed the Senate 44-2 last week, must go to the House for approval. Earlier, the House passed a substantially similar bill, 66-32.
The House will likely vote on the measure next week. If H.J.R. 1042 is passed by the House, the referendum will go before the voters of Oklahoma in Nov. 2010.

Tennessee – Legislation that would protect employers who institute English-in-the-Workplace policies will likely receive a vote in the Committee on Consumer and Employee Affairs next week. H.B. 480 passed the House Employee Affairs Subcommittee last week and unanimously passed the Senate in March.

Louisiana – The last state legislature to begin the 2009 legislative session got down to business this week. Sen. Buddy Shaw has introduced a resolution, S.C.R. 10, to tell Congress to pass official English legislation on the federal level. Making English the official language was a key component in the statehood of Louisiana in 1812.

In addition to the measures in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Tennessee, legislation related to making English the official language has been introduced in 20 other states in 2009: Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. All of these measures can be viewed on the U.S. English state legislation index.