Lots of big things are happening in Lansing this week according to the Detroit Free Press as the Michigan House prepares to lay a vote down on House Bill 4053 which was introduced in 2017, which will make English the official language of Michigan. According to Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Potterville who is the bill's sponsor, he is hoping that the bill will "encourage people who do not speak the language to learn English."

Michigan would be the 33rd state to officially make English their state language. But according to the bill, it still won't be illegal to speak foreign languages. Barrett is justifying the bill saying that it will spare local governments the expense of printing official documents in more than one language:

Currently, state and local government agencies print documents and other literature in a variety of common languages, and this bill only requires the documents be provided in English. If a local government chooses to continue offering documents in a variety of languages, they are not prohibited from doing so.

Bennett said because of this there will be fewer taxpayer dollars spent on government publications. His website also touched on the legality of speaking a foreign language:

We aren’t prohibiting anyone from speaking other languages. We are doing this to encourage people to learn the language of the nation in which they live. It will help them better understand the workings of state and local governments.

Do you think this is a pressing matter or do you find this to be a waste of time?


 

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