Referred to Committee on GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION AND ELECTIONS
Introduced by Rep. Piscopo, 76th DIST.
AN ACT MAKING ENGLISH THE OFFICIAL STATE LANGUAGE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
That the general statutes be amended to make English the official language of the state; that neither the state nor any political subdivision of the state shall require by statute, ordinance, regulation, order, program or policy the use in the state of any language other than English; that governmental officials and employees shall be bound by the provisions of this act during the performance of government business; that no governmental document shall be valid, effective or enforceable unless it is printed in the English language; that the state shall take all reasonable steps to preserve, protect and enhance the role of the English language as the official language of the state; that notwithstanding any provision of this act to the contrary, the state and political subdivisions of the state may act in a language other than English (1) to assist students who are not proficient in the English language by providing educational instruction in languages other than English to provide as rapid as possible a transition to English, (2) to comply with federal laws, (3) to provide foreign language instruction as part of a required or voluntary education curriculum, (4) to protect public health and safety, (5) to negotiate with foreign businesses which may wish to locate in Connecticut, and (6) to protect the rights of criminal defendants or victims of crime; and that nothing in this act shall be construed to prohibit the printing of proper names.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: To establish English as the official language of the state of Connecticut.