Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger
House Bill 55, which was introduced this week by Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, R-Woodbridge, would make English the official language of Virginia.
Actually, the legislation looks more like an attempt to stop the state from using other languages unless someone is sick, in school or in court.
Here’s the language of the text of Lingamfelter’s bill in what passes for legislative English:
“Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 1-511 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 1-511. English designated the official language of the Commonwealth.
A. English shall be designated as the official language of the Commonwealth. Except as provided by federal law, no state agency or local government shall be required to provide and no state agency or local government shall be prohibited from or otherwise assist in providing any documents, information, literature or other written materials in any language other than English.
B. Nothing contained in subsection A shall be construed to prohibit any state agency or local government from providing or assisting in the provision of any documents, information, literature or other written materials in any language other than English in connection with:
1. Foreign language instruction,
2. The administration of justice in the courts of the Commonwealth,
3. Law-enforcement purposes, or
4. The provision of health care services.”
If Spanish is good enough for hospitals, schools or courtrooms, why couldn’t the state use it for tourism?
The summary of the bill says that it: “States that, except as provided by federal law, English is the official language of the Commonwealth, and no state agency or local government shall provide or otherwise assist in providing any documents, information, literature, or other written materials in any language other than English. The bill provides exceptions to this general rule for any documents, information, literature, or other written materials in a language other than English used in connection with foreign language instruction, administration of justice in the courts of the Commonwealth, law-enforcement purposes, or the provision of health care services.”
Is the state really doing a lot of stuff in Chinese or Spanish that we don’t know about?
OK, so maybe the legislation would make English the state’s official language again (or twice, or thrice).
This legislation and similar proposals at the local level make it clear that the issue for Lingamfelter and others is not “illegal” immigration it is immigrants in general, and, some would say, anyone who is foreign born or for whom English is not their first language. So, we don’t want to make information on investing in Virginia available to Japanese, Chinese and Swedish investors in their own language? We don’t want to make information about skiing, golfing, hunting or fishing in Virginia available in foreign languages to tourists who might come here for those activities? We don’t want to make highway/safety signs available in languages other than English so that the increasing number of language minority persons driving on our highways might drive more safely. It is one thing to say that the official language of the Commonwealth shall be English, which has been the law in VA since 1994, and quite another to say that it is illegal for public agencies at the state and local level to assist the 10% of foreign born Virginians by providing general information in languages other than English (say, for example, information in public libraries about local housing laws?). This kind of legislation makes clear that Lingamfelter and his ilk are anti-immigrant ... not just anti-illegal immigrant.