Under current state law, commercial drivers can have their licenses revoked for serious traffic violations—including excessive speeding, erratic lane changes, or eluding police. Senate Bill 44 proposes adding texting while driving convictions to the list of disqualifying actions. Supporters of the legislation say it improves drivers’ safety. Bill Nevin with the South Dakota Department of Transportation says this bill puts South Dakota law into compliance with federal law. If the bill isn’t passed, Nevin says the state could lose funding for highway maintenance and constructing new roads.
“The penalty for noncompliance for the first year would be 5 percent of those funds from those pots. Based on current funding levels, 5 percent would be approximately $11,880,000. The second year we’re not in compliance and for each year thereafter, the penalty is 10 percent of those highway funds, which, under current funding levels, would amount to approximately $23.76 million. In the event we are subject to this sanction and those funds are withheld, they are gone forever,” Nevin says.
Nevin says even if the state comes into compliance at a later date, funding is never restored to previous amounts. Opponents of the bill say the federal government shouldn’t be able to dictate what states put into law by threatening to withhold funding. The House Judiciary Committee passed the bill 12- 1 and it now heads to the full House.