Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bill that would have allowed CDL training for a narrow segment of state prisoners.
The bill passed both houses of the Florida legislature with no opposition.
A copy of DeSantis’ veto letter was not immediately available. But Florida news sources that did obtain the letter said in explaining the veto, DeSantis said the program would be “unnecessarily burdensome” to the Department of Corrections, which would need to supply personnel to monitor the inmates taking the CDL training.
“It also creates significant public safety concerns by authorizing incarcerated individuals to operate commercial vehicles in public thoroughfares,” DeSantis wrote in his veto letter, according to the Florida news reports.
The provision regarding CDL training for some inmates was part of a larger bill, HB 325, dealing with vocational training for prisoners under certain circumstances.
Nonviolent and near getting out
The provision dealing with drivers would have allowed the CDL training to be offered to, according to the bill’s language, “nonviolent, scheduled-release inmates and nonviolent inmates who have two years or less remaining on their sentence.”
The law as drafted and approved by the legislature would have permitted the state’s Department of Transportation to fund a wider array of workforce development programs, instead of solely construction workforce programs, which the bill implies is the only current approved use.
Proficiency in English would have been required to be enrolled in the program.
The Correctional Education Program that would have overseen the CDL training would be empowered to strike a deal for the training with colleges, public or private school districts as well as undefined “entities.”
The Correctional Education Program also would have been required to develop procedures and monitoring for the schools chosen to undertake the CDL training.
“(The) highest priority of inmate participation shall be focused on youthful offenders and those inmates nearing release from the correctional system,” the bill said.
Officer would have needed to be present
A provision to which DeSantis apparently objected, given his reference to burdens placed on the corrections system, would have allowed an inmate in training to be transported in or operate a state-owned vehicle “if the inmate is appropriately licensed” or has completed a CDL program. But it also would have required at least one corrections officer to be in the vehicle.
The Florida Trucking Association could not be immediately reached to determine if it had any view on either the legislation or the veto.
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