Biden Signs Bill Easing Veterans’ Access to CDL Schools
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President Joe Biden on Oct. 1 signed into law a bill aimed at ensuring veterans’ benefits are approved without delay at new commercial driving schools.
The House passed the Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act last month, nearly a year after it gained approval in the Senate. The measure addresses industry workforce concerns.
Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), who co-sponsored the bill with Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), emphasized its goal of improving veterans’ access to commercial driver licenses nationwide.
“America is duty-bound to care for our veterans when they return home. That’s why I wanted to remove roadblocks to good-paying jobs for our vets,” said Fischer, a member of the Commerce Committee on freight policy. “I’m grateful my bill enabling veterans to get CDL licenses more easily was signed into law.”
Fischer
According to background information the sponsors provided, “The Fischer-Padilla legislation would ensure [commercial driver’s license] schools that offer courses at new branches do not have to wait two years if the primary institutions [have] been approved by the [Department of Veterans Affairs] and State Approving Agencies to receive GI benefits. By clarifying this two-year moratorium statute, the bill will allow veterans more accessibility to nearby CDL schools and lead to high-paying careers in the industry.”
In the House, Rep. Chuck Edwards (R-N.C.), a member of the Appropriations Committee, led the bill’s passage with Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.). The White House thanked the bill’s sponsors, which also included Reps. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) and Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.).
“Expanding the scope of GI education benefits to CDL programs is a way to increase opportunities for those who have put their lives on the line for our country. Bureaucratic obstacles should never inhibit our nation’s veterans from having flexibility in building prosperous lives for themselves,” Crane said.
Spanberger
Spanberger added, “This common-sense, bipartisan law will help clear roadblocks for veterans, strengthen our trucking workforce and help move more goods across our nation. The Veteran Improvement Commercial Driver License Act is a win for our nation’s veterans, businesses, and economy — and I’m glad to see it signed into law.”
Specifically, the bill seeks to guarantee accredited CDL schools can accommodate veterans at new branches. According to a summary prepared by the Congressional Research Service, “a commercial driver education program offered at a new branch of an educational institution may be approved if it is appropriately licensed and uses the same curriculum as a commercial driver education program offered by the educational institution at another location that is already approved for purposes of VA educational assistance.”
Spear
Current law requires the VA and state agencies to mandate a two-year waiting period for certain benefits if a certified trucking school operates a facility at a new location. Groups like American Trucking Associations endorsed the bipartisan measure.
“When the brave men and women in our armed forces return home, the last thing they should have to worry about is red tape preventing them from achieving the American dream that they fought to defend,” ATA President Chris Spear said. “Improving veterans’ access to CDL programs will open the door of opportunity to good-paying, in-demand jobs in the trucking industry. We are appreciative of the leadership by Sens. Fischer and Padilla and Reps. Edwards and Pappas on this important bill, which will help veterans secure rewarding careers and alleviate the truck driver shortage.”
The measure was backed by the American Legion, Student Veterans of America and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
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