President Joe Biden is expected to sign into law a bipartisan bill offered by U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) that aims to enhance the Commercial Driver’s License Information System (CDLIS), the nationwide computer system that ensures commercial drivers have only one license and one complete driver record.
“I am pleased to see the Strengthening the Commercial Driver’s License Information Act pass Congress,” said Sen. Young. “Our bill will help ensure the [CDLIS] remains easily accessible, properly maintained, and free of bureaucratic overreach.”
The president Dec. 12 received the Strengthening the CDLIS Act, S. 3475 — which Sen. Young cosponsored in December 2023 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) — after the U.S. House of Representatives approved it on Dec. 9. The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the bill in September.
State driver licensing agencies utilize the CDLIS to complete safety procedures such as sharing out-of-state convictions and withdrawals, transferring the driver record when a commercial driver license holder moves to another state, and responding to requests for driver status and history. Up until 2022, states paid fees to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to operate the system.
However, a statutory review by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which oversees CDLIS, found that fees cannot legally go to AAMVA under current law. If not addressed, the FMCSA would be forced to operate the program with limited available resources, according to a bill summary provided by bill sponsors.
Once enacted, S. 3475 will reinstate the previous funding structure through AAMVA to protect the system and ensure FMCSA is not forced to reallocate federal tax-payer dollars away from its own safety priorities to support CDLIS, the summary says.
Specifically, the CDLIS Act will codify existing processes for the administration of the CDLIS by:
- Authorizing the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to select a qualified entity to operate, collect fees for, and use fees to maintain CDLIS. The operator would remain AAMVA, and DOT would not be charged a fee to use CDLIS.
- Clarifying that fees paid by states would go toward the purpose of operating, maintaining, developing, modernizing, or enhancing the information system.
- Ensuring that DOT is not charged for accessing CDLIS and receives quarterly reports on fee statements.
“I’m proud that this common-sense, bipartisan bill to permanently reinstate the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators’ authority to operate CDLIS will soon become law,” Sen. Peters said. “This needed step will help improve safety in the commercial driving industry, which impacts communities throughout Michigan and every state.”
The AAMVA, the American Trucking Associations, and the National Safety Council support the measure.