CHEYENNE — Gov. Mark Gordon signed House Bill 32 Thursday afternoon, which the Wyoming Highway Patrol says allows Wyoming law enforcement authority to enforce federal English language proficiency regulations. 

The current regulations put any driver found not proficient in English according to federal standards out of service and were originally only enforceable by the WHP and its commercial carrier section. The WHP says the regulations’ purpose is to ensure all commercial drivers can communicate with other drivers and read road signage.

“This is what Wyoming Highway Patrol, and our commercial vehicle section, and our inspectors do every day. This is something we already do.” Col. Timothy Cameron, WHP Administrator said at the signing, “But now what (the bill) does is it leverages all the law enforcement assets in the state to most importantly identify people that jeopardize public safety.”