XPost: ca.driving, misc.transport.trucking, alt.politics.immigration   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   After months of refusing to comply with federal regulations requiring   
   truck drivers to be tested for English language proficiency, California   
   Governor Gavin Newsom is finally reversing course, the United States   
   Department of Transportation confirmed to the Post on Friday.   
      
   The USDOT withheld over $40 million from the state last October after   
   USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy said California was the only state that   
   failed to enforce the regulations requiring truckers pass a test showing   
   they can communicate in English and understand traffic signs.   
      
   “I shouldn’t have had to threaten to withhold millions in funding for   
   California to come to their senses and enforce the law,” Duffy told The   
   California Post. “For those who said we’re playing politics—our efforts   
   have gotten real results for the American people.”   
      
   In an effort to strengthen road safety, President Donald Trump signed an   
   executive order back in April that pulled truckers from the road and   
   disqualified those who failed their ELP test.   
      
   State law enforcement is required to test drivers for proficiency in   
   English during routine traffic stops.   
      
   The USDOT confirmed to The Post that California has started to enforce   
   the longstanding rules, and the department is now in the processing of   
   unfreezing the $40 million in federal funds.   
      
   In August, a truck driver who caused a deadly crash when he made an   
   illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, did not speak English and failed   
   the assessment, providing only 2 of 12 correct responses to verbal   
   questions and only accurately identifying 1 of 4 highway traffic signs,   
   according to the USDOT.   
      
   Trump had not yet restored the ELP violations when California issued the   
   driver the commercial license in 2024.   
      
   California issued the commercial license, but Trump’s executive order   
   had not been in place.   
      
   “If states had followed the rules, this driver would never have been   
   behind the wheel and three precious lives would still be with us.” Duffy   
   said in a statement at the time.   
      
   The California Highway Patrol has been quietly testing for ELP since   
   mid-January, according to KRON4.   
      
   The outlet captured video of an officer conducting an assessment during   
   a stop, where the driver said he only understood a little English. No   
   citations were issued, but the trucker’s passenger, who did speak   
   proficient English, was required to take the wheel.   
      
   “California Highway Patrol has begun enforcing the English Language   
   Proficiency (ELP) requirements for all drivers of commercial motor   
   vehicles,” Nick Chiappe, director of government and regulatory affairs   
   for the California Trucking Association, said in a post on LinkedIn.   
      
   https://nypost.com/2026/02/20/us-news/gavin-newsom-caves-as-california-en   
   forces-english-tests-for-truck-drivers/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)