House Transportation Committee advances bill letting Wyoming officers enforce English-proficiency standard for commercial drivers

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The House Transportation Committee on Feb. 10 advanced House Bill 32, a measure to authorize Wyoming law enforcement to enforce English-language proficiency standards for commercial drivers using the established CVSA/FMCSR testing mechanism, the committee chair said.

The bill, explained by Colonel Tim Cameron, administrator of the Wyoming Highway Patrol, would reinstate state authority to issue citations for lack of English proficiency by referencing federal testing standards. "It allows Wyoming law enforcement to enforce the statute for a lack of English language proficiency using the established CVSA testing mechanism," Cameron said.

Why this matters: Committee members and industry representatives said the change aims to improve highway safety on interstate corridors by ensuring drivers can follow basic road signage and respond to simple safety questions. Lieutenant Kyle McKay of the Highway Patrol told the committee that since the provision was put back into effect in June the agency has recorded 775 violations (about 97 per month) and 19 physical arrests for repeat offenders, figures he identified as agency-reported enforcement activity.

Industry groups spoke in favor. Brett Moline of the Wyoming Farm Bureau Federation said the bill would "help keep our highways safer and keep transportation corridors functioning better" by reducing accidents and traffic disruptions. Kevin Holly of the Wyoming Trucking Association told the committee that related federal rules were recently codified and said a $1,000 fine and out-of-service authority exist at the federal level; he urged the state and federal partnership to address so-called "chameleon carriers" that shift DOT registrations to evade enforcement.

Committee members asked how enforcement would work in practice. The Patrol explained that CVSA/FMCSR testing focuses on basic road signs and simple standardized questions such as "Where are you driving today?" and "What are you hauling?" The Patrol also clarified that the enforcement places drivers — not vehicles — out of service when the standard is not met. Representatives pressed whether employers can be held criminally liable; the chair and staff said constitutional and practical constraints make the driver the legal target of this statute rather than directly charging companies under state criminal law.

The committee amended the bill to make its effective date immediate upon passage. Representative Geringer moved to change the effective date to "immediately upon passage," seconded by Representative Larson; the motion carried and the committee then voted on the amended bill. On a roll-call vote the committee recorded nine ayes (Representatives Banks, Geringer, Larson, McCann, Posey, Tarver, Wiley, Chairman Brown and an absentee aye from Representative Nicholas), and the bill passed the committee.

Next steps: Representative McCann agreed to carry the bill; the committee adjourned and indicated it would meet again Thursday for further business.

Quotes in context: "The vehicle was placed out of service. It's actually the driver that is placed out of service, not the vehicle itself," Lieutenant Kyle McKay said, describing how the Patrol applies the existing out-of-service authority. "As an industry, we want to go back to the root cause to how did these drivers get on the road," Kevin Holly said, urging federal action to stop bad actors at the source.

Details and authorities: The text discussed by the committee referenced a new subsection cited in committee as "31 18 7 0 1" and invoked the FMCSR testing standards (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations) and related CFR language as the mechanism for assessing driver English-language proficiency. The Patrol characterized its troopers as CVSA level 3–trained inspectors capable of placing drivers out of service; non-CVSA inspectors in other agencies were described as lacking that out-of-service authority.

A note on numbers: enforcement figures (775 violations, ~97 per month, 19 arrests) were reported to the committee by Wyoming Highway Patrol representatives during testimony and are reported here as stated by the agency.

The committee passed the amended bill and will forward it per committee procedure; Representative McCann will carry the measure forward.