H. B. 4027
(By Delegates Overington, Carmichael, Walters,
J. Miller, Blair, Cowles, Duke, Sobonya,
Rowan, Sumner and Shott)
[Introduced January 14, 2010 ; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §2-2-13, relating to
protecting government from the expense of conducting
activities and providing papers and documents in multiple
languages.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §2-2-13, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. LEGAL HOLIDAYS; SPECIAL MEMORIAL DAYS; CONSTRUCTION OF
STATUTES; DEFINITIONS; LANGUAGE.
§2-2-13. Activities and records of the government to be in
English.
(a) The government shall conduct all activities in English
unless use of another language is required to provide
Constitutional protections or is required for activities related to the teaching of a foreign language.
(b) All official papers, records and documents produced or
used by the state, including ballots and other election materials,
must be in English: Provided, That papers or documents in another
language may be kept for historical or cultural purposes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to insure that government
agencies will not have to bear the expense of conducting activities
and preparing and storing documents in multiple languages.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.