Newton County found out last week that dealing with the federal government can come with some long strings attached.
The county receives around $2.6 million in annual federal funding and accepting this money requires the county to implement a Limited English Proficiency Plan.

That plan requires the county to begin providing some information in Spanish as well as English, including posting some notices in Spanish and providing access to interpreters at a cost to the county of $3.29 per minute.

Folks, this is just the start. One of our editorial board members, who has experience publishing papers in California, recalls an election notice in California having to publicly noted in the paper in 23 languages because of federal mandates.

Commissioner Tim Fleming voted against this issue in protest. He stated that English was the official language of the Georgia and further stressed the whole issue gave him heartburn. In this case we agree with the commissioner.