deputy director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation
Oklahoma for example needs to amend its law to disqualify truck drivers who fail to provide medical certificates to the state But a wide-ranging bill that included the necessary changes was derailed this past year in the Oklahoma Senate. And the Legislature does not reconvene until early February just after the federal deadline.Oklahoma could lose nearly million if its not in compliance with the new requirement said Mike Patterson deputy director of the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.
Were concerned yes but we have all the confidence that the Department of Public Safety will be able to get all the proper certifications in place as they have in the past to secure the federal funding Patterson said.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon vetoed a bill that would have complied with the federal licensing requirement, because he objected to an unrelated provision that could have allowed more electronic billboards along state highways Emails between the Missouri governors office and the state highway department show Nixons staff knew of deadline and had been told by department personnel that a waiver was unlikely.
In August the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent Missouri a letter saying states in violation of the medical certification requirements for truck drivers as of will have to submit a plan demonstrating an earnest intent to gain full compliance on an acceptable timeline or else federal funds could be withheld beginning
Yet legislators failed to rally the two-thirds majority needed to override Nixons veto during a September session. And Nixon didnt include the commercial drivers license requirements on the agenda for an autumn special session The Missouri Department of Transportation says legislation needed to comply with the federal mandate will be one of its top goals for a legislative session that starts