Spanish driver's license test narrowly passes South Dakota Senate

Lisa Kaczke
Argus Leader
Martin Baez (left), a crew leader for BX Construction, talks with project supervisor Nic Kahler (right) during Baez's lunch break. Baez is one of the handful of Spanish-speakers working for the company that has a commercial driver's license. Unlike most states, South Dakota only offers its driving exams in English. The restriction has become a workforce problem in a fast-growing construction industry that depends on immigrant labor.

PIERRE — A driver's license bill that Sioux Falls business leaders say will help the city's workforce received support from state senators on Thursday.

Senate Bill 117, which would allow the state to administer the driver's license written test in Spanish, narrowly passed the Senate in a 19-15 vote and now heads to the House for consideration. 

The driving portion of the test would still be conducted in English, and only people who are in the United States legally can take the driver's license test. The change would cost the state an estimated $15,500. People currently can bring their own interpreters to interpret the test for them.

South Dakota is one of six states that offer driver's license written tests in only English, and including Spanish has become an important workforce issue in Sioux Falls, said bill sponsor Sen. Reynold Nesiba, D-Sioux Falls. The question is whether legislators should prevent people from being able to get to work before they can speak English. 

"A vote in favor of Senate Bill 117 is a vote to give individuals a pathway to self-sufficiency, to decrease their reliance on public services and to enhance personal freedom for themselves and their families," Nesiba said.

The Sioux Falls and Rapid City Chambers of Commerce, as well as building and health industry representatives, turned out in force earlier this month to support the initiative during the bill's committee hearing. They argued that the state's English-only test is hampering businesses' ability to hire potential employees in the state's increasingly diverse population.

More:Spanish driver's license test gets boost from South Dakota senators

Sen. Deb Soholt, R-Sioux Falls, said that the bill isn't a "slippery slope" to road signs in multiple languages. In a perfect world, everyone would be fluent in English before entering the workforce, she said, but the the bill is one small step to helping immigrants to South Dakota assimilate by going to work.

"What I think is interesting is this juxtaposition of 'Come to South Dakota, we're a friendly, open place, a great place to work,' and yet putting up artificial barriers in relationship to trying to progress in our state," Soholt said.

But Sen. Margaret Sutton, R-Sioux Falls, urged her fellow senators to vote against the bill, saying it will send a message that it's OK to not learn English and urged her fellow senators to vote against it. Sutton, who is of Hispanic descent and has parents whose native language is Spanish, said that not learning English can put residents in a vulnerable position where they're taken advantage of a supervisor because they can't communicate with their supervisor.

More:English only? S.D. license law a hurdle for Sioux Falls construction industry