JURIST - Paper Chase: West Virginia governor vetoes "English-as-official-language" bill on technicality

[JURIST] Governor Joe Manchin vetoed a bill [AP report] on Saturday that would have made English the official language of West Virginia. Gov. Manchin, who has supported such legislation in the past, objected to the bill on the grounds that the state constitution limits legislation to one topic. The original bill was about increasing the size of local park and recreation boards, and legislators didn't even know [Quad City Times editorial] they had approved the English-only amendment to the bill until after the session had ended. Twenty-seven US states [map] have adopted English as their official language according to the English-advocacy group US English [advocacy website]. West Virginia is the most homogeneously-English-speaking state in the nation, with only 2.7% of residents speaking other languages at home.

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