A proposed bill filed in the Tennessee legislature would require all written driver鈥檚 license exams to be offered only in English.
State Representative Kip Capley and State Senator Bo Watson are sponsoring Senate Bill 1373, which would ban the administration of written driver鈥檚 license exams in any language but English and prohibit the use of translation dictionaries, electronic devices, and interpreters to assist a person taking the exam. Capley proposed a similar bill in 2024, but it stalled in the Senate. If passed, the measure would take effect on July 1.
According to the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, around 12,494 written exams are taken in a language other than English each year. Written driver鈥檚 license exams are currently offered in English, Spanish, German, Korean, and Japanese. Translation dictionaries are also allowed during the exam, but an interpreter is not.
Luis Mata, policy coordinator for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, said he believes the bill would not only violate the rights of non-English-speaking Tennesseans under the Civil Rights Act, but would also make roads less safe.
鈥淭his is a regressive piece of legislation that would hinder economic and cultural opportunities for people who call Tennessee home and would compromise road safety for everyone,鈥 Mata said. 鈥淭his bill would have the effect of making it harder for families to get to and from work or school. It would also perpetuate this anti-immigrant language coming from our state legislature.鈥
Mata sees restricting language offerings as the 鈥渂eginning of a slippery slope鈥 of the state not making documents and forms available in languages many Tennesseans speak.
鈥淥ur diversity makes our state stronger,鈥 Mata said. 鈥淭his is not only an attack against one group or one community. This English language-only effort is an attack on all our immigrant communities.鈥
The Tennessean (2/10/25) By Vivian Jones