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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday he is withholding $40 million in federal funding from California, accusing the state of failing to enforce rules requiring truck drivers to be proficient in English.
The decision follows a warning issued last month giving California 30 days to comply with new regulations or risk losing nearly $160 million in federal highway funds in the first year.
“I’m withholding 40 MILLION DOLLARS in funding for California because they can’t get their priorities straight,” Duffy wrote on X. “The Golden State thinks it’s OK to ignore [Transportation Department] English language requirements for truckers. You can play all the games you want, but not at the expense of American lives.”
The announcement came after a truck driver in the U.S. illegally, who held a California commercial driver’s license, attempted an illegal U-turn with a semi-truck on the Florida Turnpike. The trailer jackknifed, and a minivan crashed into it, killing all three people inside the minivan.
Duffy said California is the only state that does not ensure truck and big-rig drivers meet basic English proficiency requirements, according to Fox News.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom spokesperson Diana Crofts-Pelayo pushed back, arguing the state’s commercial drivers are among the safest in the nation.
“It seems the Secretary of Transportation needs a lesson about the laws of his own roads,” she said. “The reality is simple: Commercial driver’s license holders in California had a fatal accident rate nearly 40% LOWER than the national average. Texas, the only state with more commercial driver’s license holders, has a rate nearly 50% higher than California’s.”
The Transportation Department said California can have its funding restored if it enforces English proficiency standards and ensures state inspectors test drivers’ language skills during roadside inspections.
Duffy previously announced in August that California, Washington, and New Mexico could lose funding over the English rules for truck drivers. The states were given 30 days to comply with federal standards following the deadly Florida crash that exposed significant gaps in enforcement.
“This is about keeping people safe on the road,” Duffy said. “Your families, your kids, your spouses, your loved ones, your friends. We all use the roadway, and we need to make sure that those who are driving big rigs — semis — can understand the road signs, that they’ve been well-trained.”