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| State Rep. Tom Barrett, right, with his wife Ashley, center, and Speaker Leonard, left (DarKen Photography) |
By Brandon Hall
(Email Him At WestMIPolitics@Gmail.com)
Speaker of the Michigan House Tom Leonard will move a bill declaring English as the official language of the State of Michigan as early as this week, WMP has learned.
The bill, sponsored by State Rep. Tom Barrett, would put Michigan in line with over 30 other states who already recognize English as the official state language.
Leonard's support of the legislation puts him at odds with State Senator Tonya Schuitmaker, his opponent in the Republican campaign for Attorney General.
Schuitmaker opposed the idea when she was a State Representative, voting against it while even liberal Democrats like MDP Chair Brandon Dillon supported the move.
According to Emily Lawler of MLive:
"English would be the official language for all public records in the state of Michigan under a bill from Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Potterville.
His bill to make that happen, House bill 4053, would still allow governments to communicate in other languages but make it clear that doing so was not mandatory.
"I think that there should be an expectation that people have if you go to a government proceeding... that it would be provided in English," Barrett said.
He said 32 other states already have English as the official language...
Barrett said there were some areas where multiple languages were already available, including the test to get a driver's' license."
>>>Watch Tom Barrett Discuss The Legislation:__________________________________________________________________
Brandon Hall is a lifelong political nerd from Grand Haven, and is the Managing Editor of West Michigan Politics.
>>>Email him at WestMIPolitics@Gmail.com
That's Andy Dillon not Brandon Dillon you dumb shit.
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