S-3930.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 6296
_______________________________________________
State of Washington 55th Legislature 1998 Regular Session
By Senators Benton, Zarelli, Hochstatter, Johnson, Stevens, Oke, Schow
and Roach
Read first time 01/15/98. Referred to Committee on Education.
AN ACT Relating to a common language; adding a new section to
chapter 1.20 RCW; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 1. (1) The legislature hereby finds that:
(a) By sharing a common language, America's immigrants built a new
nation and contributed their diverse cultures;
(b) This state has been enriched by its diversity, and the
government should always take steps to promote the dignity of all
heritages that form our society;
(c) Many languages are represented in this state, and language has
the power to unite the people of differing backgrounds and heritages;
(d) English is the nation's single shared language, the one
language that crosses all ethnic, racial, cultural, nationality, and
religious lines and allows diverse Americans to share their various
backgrounds;
(e) Full political, economic, and social empowerment depends to a
large extent upon proficiency in the common language, and a lack of
proficiency in the common language condemns people to a permanent
second-class status behind a language barrier;
(f) Knowledge of a common language is essential to the democratic
processes of government and the full exercise of constitutional
freedoms, informed and knowledgeable empowerment as voters, citizen
checks against government abuses, and individual prosperity and
independence;
(g) The use of a common language as the language of public record
in no way infringes upon the rights of citizens to exercise the use of
a primary language of their choice for private conduct;
(h) The absence of a recognized common language among diverse
people results in segregation along language lines and places at great
disadvantage individuals who are of limited proficiency in English.
(2) It is a purpose of this act to recognize the government's
affirmative responsibility to encourage and ensure greater
opportunities for individuals to learn the common language, as
recognized by this act.
(3) It is a purpose of this act to establish a uniform policy for
a means of access to public documents and communications in the state
and thereby to ensure fair, consistent, and equal practices throughout
the state when it comes to providing services.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 1.20
RCW to read as follows:
(1) The common language is recognized to be English, and the common
language is designated as the language of official public documents and
records and official public meetings.
(2) Official documents and records are all documents officially
compiled, published, or recorded by the state including deeds, publicly
probated wills, records of births, deaths and marriages, and all other
documents and records considered a public record as defined by RCW
42.17.020; and meetings are those meetings and proceedings as defined
by RCW 42.30.020.
(3) The provisions of this section shall not apply:
(a) To instruction in foreign language courses;
(b) To instruction designed to aid students with limited English
proficiency in a timely transition and integration into the general
education system;
(c) To the promotion of international commerce, tourism, and
sporting events;
(d) To interfere with needs of the justice system;
(e) When the public safety, health, or emergency services may
require the use of other languages. However, authorization for the use
of languages other than the common language in printing informational
materials or publications for general distribution must be approved in
a meeting as defined in RCW 42.30.020 by the governing board or
authority of the relevant state or municipal entity, and the decision
must be recorded in publicly available minutes;
(f) When expert testimony, witnesses, or speakers may require a
language other than the common language. However, for purposes of
deliberation, decision making or recordkeeping, the official version of
testimony or commentary shall be the officially translated English
language version.
(4) Pursuant to the exemptions outlined in subsection (3)(a)
through (f) of this section, all costs relating to the preparation,
translation, printing, and recording of documents, records, brochures,
pamphlets, flyers, or other informational materials in languages other
than the common language must be delineated as a separate budget line
item in the agency, departmental, or office budget.
(5) No person shall be denied employment with the state or any
constituent entities or municipalities based solely upon that person's
lack of facility in a foreign language, except where related to a bona
fide job need reflected in the exemptions in subsection (3)(a) through
(f) of this section.
(6) This section shall not be construed in any way to infringe upon
the rights of citizens under the state Constitution or the Constitution
of the United States in the use of language in private activities. No
agency or officer of the state nor any constituent entities or
municipalities may place any restrictions or requirements regarding
language usage in businesses operating in the private sector other than
official documents, forms, submissions, or other communications
directed to government agencies and officers, and those communications
must be in the common language as recognized in this section.
(7) Any citizen of the state shall have standing to bring an action
against the state to enforce this section. The state courts shall have
jurisdiction to hear and decide any such action brought under this
subsection.
{+ NEW SECTION. +} Sec. 3. If any provision of this act or its
application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the
remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other
persons or circumstances is not affected.
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