The U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, announced on Wednesday that $40 million in federal funding will be withheld from California. This decision comes in response to California’s failure to comply with English language requirements for truck drivers, as mandated by federal regulations.
This action follows a detailed investigation initiated after a tragic accident in Florida. On August 12, a foreign truck driver, who was involved in a fatal crash due to an illegal U-turn, was found to have been issued a commercial license by California. The investigation revealed that California had not been adequately enforcing English proficiency rules, which have been in place since June following an executive order from former President Donald Trump. Although these rules were established prior to the accident, concerns about their enforcement have surfaced.
Federal regulations stipulate that truck drivers must demonstrate proficiency in English to qualify for a commercial license. Secretary Duffy criticized the issuance of a license to the driver involved in the Florida crash, noting that the driver’s immigration status should have disqualified him. This incident has sparked a political debate, with the governors of California and Florida exchanging criticisms and Duffy emphasizing the administration’s focus on immigration issues in various media appearances.
“California is the only state refusing to ensure that truck drivers have the necessary English skills to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement. This is a critical safety issue that affects everyone on America’s roads,” Duffy stated.
In response, California defended its licensing practices in a formal reply to the Transportation Department last month, but federal authorities remained unsatisfied with the state’s measures.
Following the announcement of the funding cut, the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a swift rebuttal. Diana Crofts-Pelayo, Governor Newsom’s spokesperson, highlighted that California’s commercial truck drivers have a crash rate below the national average, according to available statistics.
But Duffy said when he announced his concerns in August that California had conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one violation since the new language standards took effect. But only one inspection involved an English language rules violation that resulted in a driver being taken out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in other states were allowed to continue driving after inspections in California.
The Transportation Department said that to get this funding reinstated, California must adopt regulations to enforce the English rules and ensure that state inspectors are testing truck drivers’ English skills during roadside inspections and pulling anyone that fails out of service.
In addition to this English language issue, Duffy has threatened to pull another $160 million from California because of the way the state issues commercial drivers licenses. Duffy significantly restricted who can qualify for those licenses last month.
Three people died when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on a highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach and a minivan slammed into his trailer, according to Florida’s Highway Patrol. Singh and his passenger were not injured.
He is being held without bond after being charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations. His lawyer has previously declined to comment on the case.
The crash received intense scrutiny because of questions about Singh’s immigration status and because investigators said he failed an English proficiency test afterward. Duffy and Florida officials blamed California as well as Washington state for issuing him a commercial driver’s license.
But California officials said he had a valid work permit at the time. And New Mexico released video of a traffic stop that showed Singh communicating with an officer effectively after he was pulled over there in July.
Duffy, President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have all be trading barbs with Newsom over the crash and whether Singh should have been driving a truck.
Newsom’s office said California followed all the rules when it issued a license for Singh in July 2024, while the federal government confirmed at that time that he was in the country legally.
Duffy and Florida authorities have said Singh, who is from India, entered the country illegally from Mexico in 2018.
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