Bill Making English-Only Suits Harder To File Dies In Assembly

SACRAMENTO—The Assembly, after a heated debate, killed a bill Thursday that would have made it more difficult for citizens to file lawsuits seeking to enforce the Proposition 63 English-only initiative approved by voters last November.

The measure had been opposed by Republicans and backed by Democrats.

A final 4-26 vote was announced on the bill. However, the actual unofficial vote was much closer. But before the final tally was announced, the bill’s author, Assemblyman Elihu M. Harris (D-Oakland), urged fellow Democrats to officially abstain.

Mailing Threatened

Harris’ advice came after Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier) threatened to mail out 200,000 leaflets statewide informing voters of the Democratic support.

“I don’t like threats, and I don’t like blackmail,” Harris said. “This bill would avoid frivolous lawsuits and wasting taxpayers’ money.”

But Hill charged that the bill was an “attempt to overturn Proposition 63 and thwart the will of the people.”

Proposition 63 declares English to be the official language of the state and requires the Legislature to enforce this provision by appropriate legislation. Under the ballot measure, citizens can file suits against laws that they think do not conform to the English-only provisions of the initiative.

The Harris bill would have allowed such suits to be filed only against laws passed after the ballot measure was approved and then only within 120 days of the new laws’ enactment. Old laws, such as those pertaining to bilingual education, would be safe from legal challenge.

Written Notice

The bill would also have required that a written notice of the suit be submitted to the state attorney general at least 90 days before the action was filed in court. And it would have prohibited the awarding of monetary damages.



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