Thread: ` English - only gets a hard look

'English-only' gets a hard look
By WILLIAM PETROSKI • bpetroski@dmreg.com • Copyright 2008, The Des Moines Register and Tribune Company • June 2, 2008


State officials are studying whether federal civil rights laws override Iowa's "English-only" law that prohibits publication of official government communications in foreign languages.

Publishing the state documents only in English could cause Iowa to lose federal money for such things as transportation-related projects, state officials said.

The Iowa attorney general's office is reviewing whether federal laws supersede a March ruling in Polk County District Court that upheld a 2002 state law mandating use of the English language, said Robert Brammer, spokesman for the Iowa attorney general's office. This includes landmark federal laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act.


"One of the major factors is that when federal money is coming, there are federal strings attached," Brammer said. "The general principle is that the Civil Rights Act probably does apply, but how it applies may vary in different realms, from transportation to human services to public health."

Iowa Department of Transportation officials have already concluded they must continue to print official public meeting notices in Spanish in some communities, said Iowa Special Assistant Attorney General Mark Lowe, the department's chief counsel. Ignoring the federal statute would risk losing hundreds of millions of federal dollars for Iowa highway construction projects and other programs, he said.

"We are highly constrained by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because we receive federal funding," Lowe said. "Part of that act says any program or activity that receives federal funds can't discriminate on the basis of national origin."

Secretary of State Michael Mauro said he also is reviewing the possibility that the Voting Rights Act requires Iowa officials in some counties to print voting registration materials and ballots in Spanish and possibly other foreign languages.

"I am almost positive that it does," Mauro said. A key question, he added, is whether such steps must be taken immediately because of the rapid growth of Iowa's Hispanic population, which totaled 114,700 in a 2006 census estimate.

U.S. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican, authored the state's English language law while serving in the Iowa Legislature. He issued a statement Friday that said the Iowa Department of Transportation has not proven that Spanish language meeting notices are required by federal law. He said he also opposes a presidential executive order that DOT officials have cited in support of their decision.

King added that he has asked for a full explanation of the legal reasoning from Iowa DOT officials, but said his inquiry has not been fully answered.

"Given that they have not provided a full explanation, they are violating at least the spirit of the Iowa Official English Law because they want to provide Spanish notices with taxpayer dollars, not because they have to," King said.

Rand Wonio, a Davenport lawyer who represented plaintiffs King and U.S. English Inc. in the Polk County court case, said he hadn't had an opportunity to study the issues being raised by the Iowa attorney general's office. He said state officials declined to appeal the March ruling by District Judge Douglas Staskal. He said the attorney general's office did attempt to raise some Voting Rights Act issues during the court case, but they did not address the issues being brought up now.

"Whether they attempt to find some other way to make an end run around the U.S. English law we will have to see. I am sure we will study it very closely," Wonio said.

Judge Staskal's ruling ordered state officials to stop using languages other than English in official voter registration forms. Secretary of State Mauro complied, removing foreign language forms that had been posted on his office's online site. Mauro said last week he had renewed interest in the issue after learning of the Iowa DOT's decision to continue printing official meeting notices in Spanish.

The U.S. Department of Transportation, in a document issued Dec. 14, 2005, published policy guidance to recipients of federal transportation money.

"We must ensure that federally assisted programs and activities aimed at the American public do not leave individuals behind simply because they face challenges communicating in English," the document said.

The federal guidance cited a 1974 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court involving a San Francisco school district with a large number of non-English speaking students of Chinese origin. The district was required to take reasonable steps to provide them with a meaningful opportunity to participate in federally funded education programs.

Bill Adams, a U.S. Department of Transportation spokesman in Washington, D.C., said last week that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires all recipients of federal money to comply with limited English proficiency provisions of the law. "States and localities with English-only laws are not required to accept federal DOT funding - but if they do, they must comply with federal law," he said.

Iowa Senate Republican Leader Ron Wieck of Sioux City objected last month after he read an Iowa DOT public meeting notice in the Sioux City Journal that was printed in Spanish and English. The notice advised residents of a public hearing to discuss proposed improvements on Interstate Highway 29. Sioux City is in Woodbury County, where 11 percent of the residents are Hispanic, according to Census Bureau estimates.

State transportation officials said they had been printing public meeting notices for years in foreign languages.

The Iowa DOT reviewed its policies in the wake of Wieck's objections. Lowe said state officials determined they must continue printing official meeting notices to comply with federal civil rights laws. But each community is different, he said. For example, the transportation agency might not need to publish official meeting notices in Spanish for highway projects in Carroll, he said, where Latinos represent about 1 percent of Carroll County's population.

Wieck said last week that he plans to discuss the state transportation agency's legal stance with Iowa's congressional delegation.

Armando Villareal, administrator of the Iowa Division of Latino Affairs, said it's beneficial to have Spanish-language materials available for first-generation immigrants who don't speak English well. But such materials should be viewed as transitional because the immigrants' children will be bilingual and English will be their primary language, he said.





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it's always US census number that are used to justify this or that for Hispanics. The US Census numbers do not distinguish between legal and illegal residents. IT IS HIGH TIME TO LOOK INTO THOSE NUMBERS TO EXPEOSE THE FRAUD - A MORE THAN SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF TEH SO-CALLED 15% HISPANIC POPULATION IS ILLEGALLY HERE!! WE NEED TO STOP FEELING SORRY AND BEING GOODY 2 SHOES AND STOP GIVING OUR COUNTRY AWAY ROLLING OUT THE RED CARPET. IF YOU ARE HERE ILLEGALLY YOU ARE ENTITLED TO NADA!

State transportation officials said they had been printing public meeting notices for years in foreign languages.

I haven't seen any except for Spanish. Even the National Weather alerts are English and Spanish when we have a multitude of other languages spoken here. Cater to them all or make it strictly English. If a business isn't federally funded, then why should I have to speak Spanish when English is the official language for the state? I mean we have alot of road work going on here.....they have those lighted boards giving you a message of changes comming up......how many different languages are they supposed to flash across the board? I mean the work is matched with federal funds...... I mean they need to give a serious look and have some common sense thrown in the mix.

that is exactly right - it is time to start putting teh facts on the table and stop the blatant lies! there is a conspiracy to favor Spanish over other foreign languages. you either have all languages represnted or you don't and only have English. I am not about to live in Nueva Americana Latina! Enough enough enough