The Department of Transportation has accused Colorado of delaying enforcement actions against illegally issued licenses.
Colorado is the latest state to be publicly addressed by the Department of Transportation for failing to comply with commercial driver's license (CDLs) regulations. This makes Colorado the fifth state to face threats of withheld federal funds after New York, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and California.
Following the conclusion of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) audit of state practices in issuing CDLs, Colorado was found to have issued 22% of their non-domiciled CDLs illegally. The complaint describes Colorado issuing CDLs to foreign drivers and issuing non-domiciled CDLs to drivers whose lawful presence expires before their licenses.
In addition to the threat of cut funding, the FMCSA announcement also reiterated its authority to decertify a state's CDL program. While a state has never had its CDL program decertified, the impact of such an action would be substantial.
In an AP news report, Governor Jared Polis described the threats from the FMCSA as unnecessary, indicating that Colorado was already in the process of evaluating and revoking licenses that did not meet federal standards.
Though it is unclear when Colorado will revoke non-domiciled CDLs, the state has already paused the issuance and renewal of non-domiciled CDLs, per the FMCSA order on September 29 of this year.
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