Campaign for Community Change

10/30/06 | Arizona Republic

Those on both sides of Proposition 103 agree: Few things would change if Arizona voters make English the state's official language.

Ballots would still be printed in Spanish because federal law requires it. Conversations at government offices, from the Motor Vehicle Division to the agency that issues birth certificates, could continue in languages other than English. And the Legislature would conduct its business the way it always has - in English.

But to the lawmakers who put the measure on the Nov. 7 ballot, having English as the state's official language is an important symbol of common values.

Opponents say it does more to divide than unite, calling it yet another wedge issue in the contentious public debate over illegal immigration.

The measure would require English to be the language used for all official government actions.

"If it's not an official act, or a binding act, it can be in something other than English," said Ken Berringer, an attorney with the Joint Legislative Council, which drafts legislative bills.

So although someone could converse with a motor-vehicle clerk in Spanish, the driver's license that the office issues would be printed in English... as it always has been.

Lawmakers could talk to constituents in a language other than English - but the bills they sponsor would be written in English... as they always have been.

The issue has been a sleeper this election year, with no one campaigning either for or against it.

It's a far cry from 1988, when an "English-only" amendment to the state Constitution was narrowly approved after a rancorous campaign. That law, which was never fully enacted, ultimately was overturned by the courts after a decade of litigation.

This year, Proposition 103 was written to accommodate the objections cited by the Arizona Supreme Court when it struck down the earlier law. Proposition 103's aim is much narrower: Only official government acts, not the interoffice communications or casual conversations that some feared were barred by the 1988 law.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, a Mesa Republican is the Legislature's leading critic of illegal immigration and is the sponsor of four ballot measures that deal with immigration-related topics.

Of the four, official English is the least offensive, said Rep. Steve Gallardo, a Phoenix Democrat.

But it's hypocritical for lawmakers to ask voters to enact official English as a way to promote a common language, he said, while also asking voters to bar anyone who is not a legal U.S. resident from taking adult-education classes (which include English instruction) sponsored by the state. Proposition 300, also on the Nov. 7 ballot, would do just that, along with other education and child-support programs.

"How is this going to slow down one person from coming across the border?" Gallardo asked.

Bob Park, who spearheaded the 1988 English-only measure, said though official English won't stem illegal immigration, it's a symbolic move.