A controversial bill which would establish English as the state’s official language will be debated in the Iowa House soon. The “English Only” bill passed the Iowa Senate last year, but was never considered in the House. A few Representatives have changed their minds on the legislation, according to House Republican Leader Christopher Rants of Sioux City. He says it’s an issue that Iowans feel strongly about and says many legislators heard from constituents who wanted to know why the bill didn’t pass. Rants says everyone has different reasons for wanting the bill. One example, local officials don’t want to be forced to print documents in more than one language. Representative Dwayne Alons, a republican from Hull, says the terrorist attacks on America changed some minds. He says people are more focused on things that will unify our country. He says there’s a view that the bill would bring more unity, common direction and security.Alons says having English as the official language will help avoid the conflict that’s present in places in Quebec and Bosnia where many different languages are spoken.A five-member subcommittee’s considering the bill now. It’ll soon be debated in the House Local Government Committee and Rants says it’ll hit the House floor for debate in late February.
Iowa's Radio News Network
