Now all Wyoming police officers and deputies, not just federally-certified state troopers, can pull non-English-proficient commercial truck drivers from the roads.
Gov. Mark Gordon on Thursday signed House Bill 32, which cements into state law an option for local law enforcement to cite non-English-proficient commercial truckers from the state’s roadways.
Before Thursday, only Wyoming Highway Patrol troopers certified federally for this action could do so.
The new law also says commercial drivers who can’t demonstrate English proficiency under the federal test standards are to be fined $1,000 on a first offense.
If they drive again in Wyoming before they can demonstrate English language proficiency, those same truckers face another $1,000 fine and a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail.
The federal standards on which this law hinges require commercial vehicle drivers to be able to converse with the general public, answer official inquiries, fill out log books, and read road signs in English.
Wyoming Highway Patrol command staff surrounded Gordon to celebrate his Thursday signing.
"This is what Wyoming Highway Patrol, and our commercial vehicle section, and our inspectors do every day. This is something we already do." WHP Col. Timothy Cameron said at the signing, "But now what (the bill) does is it leverages all the law enforcement assets in the state to most importantly identify people that jeopardize public safety."
Gordon had three options with respect to House Bill 32: enact it with his approval by signing it; enact it reluctantly by not signing it; or veto it.
He chose to sign the bill into law.
The Pause
That’s after President Barack Obama’s administration in 2012 had paused the federal English-proficiency rule, and directed federally-certified inspectors not to put drivers out of service for proficiency violations.
President Donald Trump reversed Obama’s direction last summer.
U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyoming, then championed efforts to codify the rule.
Between Trump’s reversal in June and mid-February of this year, the Wyoming Highway Patrol’s federally-certified inspectors have logged 775 violations of the English language proficiency rule. Nineteen of those were arrested due to repeat offenses, WHP Lt. Kyle McKay told a legislative committee last month.
Though the bill met with little resistance in the Legislature, some lawmakers voiced concern that it doesn’t apply penalties to unscrupulous trucking companies that may hire and exploit immigrant drivers and evade accountability - a persistent concern from the Wyoming trucking industry.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
