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HB1252 Requiring the department of safety to only administer tests for commercial driver's licenses in English and prohibiting the assistance of an interpreter during such tests.

Transportation In Senate Auto-scored

Requiring the department of safety to only administer tests for commercial driver's licenses in English and prohibiting the assistance of an interpreter during such tests.

Impact Score — How Does This Bill Affect You?

3

Overall Impact Score

Harmful

Scale: 1 (harmful) to 10 (beneficial)

3
💰

Your Wallet

Reduces the pool of qualified commercial truck drivers in NH, potentially increasing transportation and goods costs.

3
🏘️

Your Community

Excludes capable bilingual workers from the trucking industry during a national driver shortage.

2
⚖️

Your Freedom

Discriminates against non-native English speakers by barring them from a livelihood even if they can safely drive a commercial vehicle.

Status

House Concurs with Senate Amendment 2026-1736s (Rep. T. Walsh): Motion Adopted Voice Vote 05/21/2026

Voted Yes

0 R

Voted No

0 R

R Yes D Yes R No D No

Sponsor

Ted Gorski (R)

The Short Version

Mandates commercial driver's license tests be administered only in English with no interpreter assistance, creating a significant language barrier for non-English speaking CDL applicants. Passed House 194-156.

Who's Behind This Bill?

Who Benefits

  • ▲ English-only advocates

Who Pays the Price

  • ▼ Non-English speaking CDL applicants
  • ▼ Trucking companies facing driver shortages
  • ▼ Consumers facing higher shipping costs

Roll Call Detail (2 votes)

Every recorded floor vote on this bill, with each legislator's individual vote. Click a name to see that rep's full record.

Who actually supports this bill?

Across the 2 recorded votes on this bill — counting each legislator's net direction and treating kill motions as opposing the bill — Republicans supported it ( 188 for , 2 against ) , and Democrats opposed it ( 6 for , 154 against ) .

"Supporting" means voting for passage OR voting against a kill motion. "Opposing" is the inverse. Concurs and amendment-only votes don't count.

Ought to Pass w/Amendment 2026-05-07
Passed

YES = Pass the bill. NO = Reject the bill.

14R
Voted to Pass (14)
0R + 8D
Voted Against (8)
2
Absent
0
Not voting
Show all 24 individual votes
Absent (2)

Denise Ricciardi (R) , Kevin Avard (R)

Ought to Pass with Amendment 2026-03-12
Passed

YES = Pass the bill with the attached amendment. NO = Reject the bill (as amended).

188R + 6D
Voted to Pass (194)
2R + 154D
Voted Against (156)
23
Absent
19
Not voting
Show all 392 individual votes

Voted Yea (194)

Republicans (188)
Democrats (6)

Voted Nay (156)

Republicans (2)
Democrats (154)
Absent (23)

Dale Swanson (D) , Donald McFarlane (R) , Gaby Grossman (D) , Geoff Smith (D) , Jaci Grote (D) , James Spillane (R) , Jay Markell (R) , Jeanine Notter (R) , Jennifer Rhodes (R) , Jim Fedolfi (R) , John Janigian (R) , Jonathan Smith (R) , Joseph Hamblen (R) , Kimberly Rice (R) , Linda Haskins (D) , Mark Warden (R) , Mary Ford (R) , Matthew Hicks (D) , Peter Lovett (D) , Peter Varney (R) , Robert Harb (R) , Russell Muirhead (D) , Thomas Buco (D)

Read the Actual Bill → See All Bills

Bill statuses as of May 2026. Check LegiScan or NH General Court for the latest.

This bill was auto-scored using AI analysis of the bill text and legislative data. Scores may be refined as we review more bills.