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House approves bill letting refugees take initial driver test with interpreters
Summary
The Utah House passed Senate Bill 47 on Feb. 17, 2011, permitting refugees to take their first Utah driver’s test in their native language with a trained interpreter, issuing a four-year limited-term certificate and requiring renewal tests in English; the measure passed 69–2.
The Utah House on Feb. 17 approved Senate Bill 47, which allows refugees to take the driver’s test for the first time in their native language with the help of a trained interpreter and issues a four-year limited-term certificate that must be renewed in English.
Supporters said the bill removes an initial language barrier that can block employment and mobility and stressed the measure does not require test materials to be printed in another language. "The primary purpose of Senate Bill 47 is it allows refugees in our community the first time that they take a driver's license to take the driver's license in their native language with the help of interpreters," Representative Litvak said on the floor.
The bill’s sponsor told colleagues interpreters will be trained through the Department of Workforce Services' Office of Refugee Services and that the program will be implemented as a partnership so the program adds no additional fiscal cost; training and translator support were described as volunteer-based in the bill's fiscal assumptions. The measure creates a limited-term certificate valid for four years; at renewal the driver will be expected to take the test in English.
Members asked whether the measure conflicts with a previous state English-only initiative; Representative Litvak responded that "this will not require any printing of documents in any other language than English," and that exceptions exist for public-safety measures. Lawmakers also pressed who would provide the interpreters; Litvak said the bill is silent on statutory assignment but that participating agencies have agreed the Office of Refugee Services will provide translation services and that the arrangement will be clarified through administrative rulemaking.
After floor discussion and questions, the House voted to pass the bill 69–2. The bill will be signed by the Speaker and returned to the Senate for the President's signature.
What happens next: the measure moves back to the Senate for final signature and then to implementation through rulemaking by the Driver's License Division and cooperating agencies.
