Senate OKs bill targeting non-English-speaking drivers

By Ernie Suggs

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

State Sen. Jack Murphy says there are 13 languages in which someone can test for their Georgia driver’s license.

For him, that is about a dozen too many. So on Tuesday, the Cumming Republican revised and got the Senate to approve a bill that would make English the only language someone can use to get a license.

Murphy, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said it was a safety issue. Drivers who can’t read road signs pose a danger to everyone, he said.

But critics of the bill point to the fact that illiterate Georgians are still allowed to drive and are helped with the test. But their overriding concern is that the bill is anti-immigrant and could stunt economic development in the state.

They even have a name for it: the “Kia Go Home Bill,” named after the South Korean automaker that builds cars in Georgia with a sizable Korean work force.

“This bill would tell Kia that it is OK to invest a billion dollars here in Georgia, but your employees cannot drive here,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director for the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials. “This is sending the wrong message and would make Georgia the only state in the country with a law like this. It is anti-immigration, anti-Latino and anti-economy development.”

SB 67 was actually a bill from the last legislative session that many thought was long dead. It passed the Senate and the House last year, but lawmakers failed to agree on language before the session ended.

Tuesday’s reappearance of the bill was a surprise since it was not listed on the Senate Rules Calendar for Day 31. Murphy said he stripped the bill of a confusing amendment the House added. It now goes back to the House, where he predicts it will pass.

“Look, I can’t go to France or Germany or Mexico and get a driver’s license. Yet, we give them in 13 languages here,” Murphy said. “It is amazing how many people cannot read English who are driving. You should have to have a basic understanding of English to be able to drive. And it gives them a great incentive to learn English.”

The bill only affects permanent residents. Temporary license seekers are exempt. But while Murphy said his bill targets non-English-speaking people who can’t read traffic signs and emergency messages, he said the bill doesn’t account for illiterate Georgians.

“We have to make an exception, and we are not going to take them off the road,” Murphy said.

Democratic Sen. Nan Orrock of Atlanta furiously debated Murphy over the bill, saying it would hurt Georgia's global competitiveness.

The exemption for illiterate Georgians, she said, “just shows you the hostility toward people who speak another language."

"Immigrants learn English," she said. "We have 250 years of history that proves that. So that is a non-issue.”

The bill passed 39-11.

Murphy said the bill is not designed to be against immigration and said he doubts it will affect the state’s economy.

“It is not going to hurt economic development,” he said. “Nobody has approached us about it hurting economic development.”