State Representative Tim Bearden of Carrollton said the proposal, which he said he expects to pre-file on Thursday, would include applications for driver's license forms, state tax forms and other government documents.

Bearden said there is a big concern among his constituents that a lot of their culture is being erased. He said English is the official language in Georgia, and it is important to protect the state's heritage and history.

It's the latest signal that Georgia legislators are not finished with state immigration laws after approving a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal immigrants earlier this year.

State Senator John Douglas of Covington has already put forward legislation making property owned by a person in the country illegally ineligible for tax exemptions. And more immigration-related legislation is expected to be debated when lawmakers reconvene in Atlanta in January.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund called Bearden's proposal ``unnecessary and mean-spirited.'' The group's acting regional counsel, Isaiah Delamar, said English-only laws are based on a myth that the primacy of the English language is under threat.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)