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Committee lays over bill to expand third‑party CDL testing and create truck‑driver training grants
Summary
House File 1242, proposed by Rep. Joy, would expand third‑party examiner road-test capacity, allow recurring reservation times for training programs, and create a grant program to cover tuition and living expenses for commercial driver training. The committee laid the bill over after testimony for further consideration.
Representative Joy presented House File 1242 on March 19, a bill the author said aims to ease recruitment and retention challenges in the trucking industry by expanding access to commercial driver’s license (CDL) road tests and establishing grants for training and living expenses.
The bill would: expand the ability of existing third‑party examiners to conduct additional CDL road tests; allow commercial driver training programs to schedule and reserve recurring test times; and create a grant program to pay tuition, living costs for trainees and to reimburse fleets that provide entry-level driver training.
Why it matters: proponents told the committee Minnesota faces a shortage of CDL drivers and said long waits for state testing slots cause students to drop out of training or raise program costs. John Haslodin (industry representative) said, “There’s nothing without trucking,” and described waiting‑slot problems that force instructors and fleets to travel long distances for tests. Several industry speakers and Representative Joy argued the grant component is critical because CDL trainees are often mid‑career and need living support during multi‑week programs.
Opposition and concerns: Pat Benner, legislative representative for AFSCME Council 5, testified in opposition, warning that expanding third‑party testing ‘‘privatizes’’ a public function, could erode impartiality and increase fraud risk and that recent appropriations to Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) have improved tester capacity. Benner said, “AFSCME Council 5 respectfully opposes House File 12 42.”
Committee outcome: the committee moved House File 1242 and laid it over for further consideration. No roll‑call vote was recorded on the lay‑over motion.
Speakers and follow-up
Testifiers included industry representatives who supported the bill, county and training stakeholders who argued increased testing slots and training grants would reduce barriers to entry, and AFSCME testimony opposing third‑party expansion on impartiality grounds. The committee noted a DVS letter in the packet and asked staff to make the department’s capacity analysis and the joint MnDOT‑DPS commercial driver workforce study available to members.
Ending note
Representative Joy said she looked forward to working with DVS on implementation details, and the committee laid the bill over for potential inclusion in future committee or omnibus work.
