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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TOPEKA -- English would become the state's official language under a bill House Republicans began to push Friday.

Under the bill, no state agency or political or taxing entity would be allowed to issue written materials in any language other than English.

Exceptions to the law would allow use of another language to protect public health, to protect a person's rights in a criminal or civil proceeding, to provide instruction to people learning English, to promote international commerce or to use phrases from other languages.

The bill also would mandate that official public documents, such as birth and death certificates, would be in English.

Since 1986, Kansas legislators have introduced 10 other proposals to designate English as either the state's official or ''common'' language, and some would have required public meetings and public documents to be in English. Only one, in 1996, emerged from committee in the Senate, but the chamber never voted upon it.

Elsewhere, more than two dozen states have English-only laws, including Colorado, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

''If you're going to be here and get ahead, you've got to know the native language,'' said House Majority Leader Ray Merrick, R-Stilwell.

''It's good for them to assimilate.''

Although Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, agreed that learning English was important, he said state government shouldn't do anything to shut out individuals not fluent in the language.

He noted that members of the Legislature in the 1800s voted to publish copies of state documents in German because there were so many people in the state speaking that language.

While running for re-election, Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius agreed that Kansas should make English its official language. However, her Republican challenger, Sen. Jim Barnett, R-Emporia, was far more vocal in pushing the idea as he criticized her on immigration issues.