House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee advances legislation to tighten oversight of states’ commercial driver’s license programs

Key Takeaways

On March 18, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure advanced Dalilah’s Law (H.R. 5688). This bill would set new rules for states regarding the issuance of commercial driver’s licenses (CDL), as well as implement other changes to trucking policy. The bill would penalize states that do not comply with new requirements by withholding certain federal transportation funds, which could affect funding to counties.

What would Dalilah’s Law do?

Specifically, the bill would set new rules for states to follow when issuing CDLs. This includes requiring states to verify that CDL applicants have proficiency in English, as well as ensuring that CDLs are only going to U.S. citizens or those with proper documentation to live and work in the U.S. States would also have to remove from service drivers who currently hold CDLs but no longer meet the expanded CDL requirements from H.R. 5688.

If a state were to fail to meet the new requirements, the federal government would withhold eight percent of funding from three different formula programs: the National Highway Performance Program (NHPP), the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) program. This number would rise to 12 percent in the subsequent fiscal year if a state continues to not comply with the rules.

Additionally, the bill would ban companies based in countries other than the U.S., Mexico or Canada from serving as freight brokers or dispatchers and strengthen oversight of CDL training programs.

This bill, led by Rep. David Rouzer (R-N.C.), follows calls from the administration to ensure that CDLs are only being issued to English-speaking drivers and drivers who are lawfully in the U.S. 

County Impact

Counties are not responsible for issuing CDLs and would not be given any administrative burdens under H.R. 5688. However, counties in some states benefit from the federal transportation formula programs whose funds could be withheld if a state failed to comply with the provisions of Dalilah’s Law. These counties could therefore lose transportation funding under H.R. 5688 on account of actions taken by their state.

NACo will continue to monitor H.R. 5688, which now heads to the full House for consideration, both as a standalone piece of legislation and as a possible part of the next surface transportation reauthorization bill.