The U.S. Department of Transportation said it is withholding over US$40 million from California for failing to comply with English language proficiency (ELP) standards.
“California is the only state in the nation that refuses to ensure big rig drivers can read our road signs and communicate with law enforcement,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement.
The funding comes from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP), which provides grants for states to conduct roadside inspections, traffic enforcement, safety audits of trucking companies, and public education campaigns.
DOT said that in order for California to restore the funding, it must adopt and enforce a regulation compatible with the ELP requirement for commercial drivers from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
In August, DOT first threatened to pull federal funding for several states if they did not enforce ELP requirements for truck drivers. California defended its practices in a formal response to the Transportation Department last month, saying it believed it was in compliance with federal requirements.
Following DOT’s announcement on Oct. 15, the office of California Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly pushed back. A spokesperson for the governor said statistics show that California truck drivers have a lower crash rate than the national average.
This issue has come to the forefront after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who received a commercial license in California and made an illegal U-turn. Truckers are supposed to be disqualified if they can’t demonstrate English proficiency, and Duffy said the driver involved in the crash should not have been given a commercial license because of his immigration status.
Newsom’s office said California followed all the rules when it issued a license for that truck driver in July 2024, while the federal government confirmed at that time that he was in the country legally.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
