Howard bringing measure to require english proficiency for CDL holders mandatory, and a potential new crime if they lack it.

@SoDakCampaigns

My spies are sharing that legislators are being busy bees as they gin up sensationalized legislation. The latest is Taffy Howard wanting to demand that truck drivers have to be proficient in the english language. And if you aren’t, you could go to jail for up to a year.

So Taffy’s bill wants to make it a class 2 misdemeanor, or up to a class 1 misdemeanor if a driver lacks “sufficient English language proficiency to operate a commercial vehicle in this state.”  The obvious throwaway joke is asking “whether this is going to prevent Travis Ismay from possessing a CDL?”

It does say “The department may not evaluate an applicant on the accuracy of answers during the oral interview but only on the applicant’s proficiency in understanding and responding to questions in English.”  So he may have an out.

The bill also outsources this to vendors as it notes “The department may contract with a third party to conduct the interview required by this section.”  (another unfunded mandate?)

I’m sure we’ll hear more about this once it hits the hopper.

16 thoughts on “Howard bringing measure to require english proficiency for CDL holders mandatory, and a potential new crime if they lack it.”

  2. Tell me you have never been out the country…..

    Welcome to Trump’s America. It just keeps getting worse..

  3. Didn’t they make it easier for non English speakers to get licenses last session by allowing interpreters?

    1. I think they did the opposite and banned it. You can go to almost every foreign country and your US drivers license works because you don’t need to read to drive. Signs are universal. That’s pretty tough for the uneducated trump supporters to understand. I know shapes and colors can be tough for them.

  4. Maybe they can quote some Tonchi and Taffy speeches, the ones where the fife and drum fade in while they talk, and the newly planted seeds go shoosting into the sunny sky, or I’m not county agent Hank Kimball. Oh yeah. I’m not.

  5. It is becoming apparent that outside of appropriations, we would all be better off if the upcoming session were simply cancelled. It’s obvious this bunch doesn’t have enough to do

  6. Constitutionally, you do not need a license to travel from place to place. You do not even need to register, plate, or pay annual taxes on your vehicle. The whole system is as scam.

    1. yes you can walk anywhere you want without a license. You just need to stay in the public right of way or obtain permission from the property owner.
      So there are geographical limits to your right to travel.
      While you can ride a horse without a license, you can’t take a dog sled out if the dogs aren’t licensed. Every dog needs his own license but Horses do not. You can operate a horse or dog drawn conveyance without a license yourself.
      (Personally I think humans should have to obtain licenses to own animals. The current system of requiring people to obtain permits to hunt animals but not to own them seems a bit screwy.)

      You do not need a license to be transported by another human, but that human needs an operator’s license, because If you want to operate a piece of machinery which can hurt somebody, you need an operator’s license.

      of course none of this was covered in the US Constitution, which was written about 70 years before the development of the internal combustion engine.

    2. Friendly reminder that “Soverign Citizens”,such as the person posting this drivel, are usually room-temperature IQs that have a chip on their shoulder believing the world owes them something. They usually also can’t think their way out of a paper bag.

      1. Your first mistake, using the words “Sovereign” and “Citizen” as one word. The two are not the same, and I bet you have no understanding the difference. As Americans, you can be either a State National or State Citizen. One is NOT beholden to our statutes, the other is.

        1. Whatever loser. Keep misinterpreting basic law, it’s fun watching your ideological brethren get tased at traffic stops.

  7. Maybe we should tell Kristi Noem the sovereign citizens should be deported as they say they are not citizens of the United States, nor do they seem to admit to being legal residents.

    They can go live somewhere else

  8. This is the dumbest thing ever. I know many natural born Americans who LACK proficiency in the English language. Many of whom serve in the legislature.

    Back to the candy factory with Laffy Taffy’s ignorance.

Comments are closed.