DRIVE-SAFE Act
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Rep. Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [R-AR-1]
ID: C001087
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3. Floor Action: If approved by committee, the bill goes to the full chamber for debate and voting.
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5. Conference: If both chambers pass different versions, a conference committee reconciles the differences.
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7. Became Law: If signed (or if Congress overrides a veto), the bill becomes law!
Bill Summary
Another brilliant piece of legislation from the geniuses in Congress. The DRIVE-SAFE Act, because what's more "safe" than putting inexperienced 19-year-olds behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle? I mean, it's not like they're going to be driving around with a bunch of hormonal teenagers in a school bus or anything.
**Main Purpose & Objectives:** The main purpose of this bill is to create an apprenticeship program for commercial drivers under the age of 21. Because, you know, the current system of requiring them to be at least 21 years old and have a certain amount of experience just isn't working out. I mean, who needs experience when you can just throw some kid in a truck and hope for the best?
**Key Provisions & Changes to Existing Law:** The bill establishes an apprenticeship program that allows drivers under 21 to operate commercial vehicles in interstate commerce after completing a 120-hour probationary period (with at least 80 hours of driving time) and a subsequent 280-hour probationary period (with at least 160 hours of driving time). Because, you know, 400 hours is totally enough experience to handle the complexities of commercial trucking. The program also requires apprentices to be accompanied by an "experienced driver" during their probationary periods, because nothing says "safe" like having a seasoned veteran in the passenger seat.
**Affected Parties & Stakeholders:** The affected parties include:
* Commercial drivers under 21 who will now have the opportunity to drive big rigs and potentially kill themselves or others. * Trucking companies that will benefit from cheaper labor costs by hiring inexperienced drivers. * The general public, who will get to enjoy the thrill of sharing the roads with a bunch of novice truckers.
**Potential Impact & Implications:** The potential impact of this bill is increased risk of accidents and fatalities on our nation's highways. I mean, it's not like we have enough problems with distracted driving, texting while driving, or just plain old bad driving already. But hey, who needs safety when you can have cheaper labor costs? The implications are clear: more crashes, more injuries, and more deaths. But hey, at least the trucking companies will be happy.
In conclusion, this bill is a perfect example of how our esteemed lawmakers prioritize profits over people's lives. It's a classic case of " regulatory capture" where special interest groups (in this case, the trucking industry) get to write their own rules and regulations, regardless of the potential consequences for public safety. Bravo, Congress!
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đź’° Campaign Finance Network
Rep. Crawford, Eric A. "Rick" [R-AR-1]
Congress 119 • 2024 Election Cycle
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Project 2025 Policy Matches
This bill shows semantic similarity to the following sections of the Project 2025 policy document. Higher similarity scores indicate stronger thematic connections.
Introduction
— 595 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies l Congress should expand apprenticeship programs outside of the RAP model, re-creating the IRAP system by statute and allowing approved entities such as trade associations and educational institutions to recognize and oversee apprenticeship programs. In addition, religious organizations should be encouraged to participate in apprenticeship programs. America has a long history of religious organizations working to advance the dignity of workers and provide them with greater opportunity, from the many prominent Christian and Jewish voices in the early labor movement to the “labor priests” who would appear on picket lines to support their flocks. Today, the role of religion in helping workers has diminished, but a country committed to strengthening civil society must ask more from religious organizations and make sure that their important role is not impeded by regulatory roadblocks or the bureaucratic status quo. l Encourage and enable religious organizations to participate in apprenticeship programs, etc. Both DOL and NLRB should facilitate religious organizations helping to strengthen working families via apprenticeship programs, worker organizations, vocational training, benefits networks, etc. Hazard-Order Regulations. Some young adults show an interest in inherently dangerous jobs. Current rules forbid many young people, even if their family is running the business, from working in such jobs. This results in worker shortages in dangerous fields and often discourages otherwise interested young workers from trying the more dangerous job. With parental consent and proper training, certain young adults should be allowed to learn and work in more dangerous occupations. This would give a green light to training programs and build skills in teenagers who may want to work in these fields. l DOL should amend its hazard-order regulations to permit teenage workers access to work in regulated jobs with proper training and parental consent. Workforce Training Grant Program. The federal government spends more than $100 billion per year subsidizing higher education but close to zero supporting people on non-college pathways. l Congress should create an employer grant worth up to $10,000 per year or pro-rated portion thereof for each worker engaged in — 596 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise on-the-job training, defined as some share of paid time spent in a formal training program. To qualify, a program—whether run by the employer, an industry consortium, a community college, or a union—would need to define program length, curriculum, career path, and credential and to report regularly on outcomes for participants. Programs that fail to deliver promised results would be disqualified from continued funding. Funding for employer grants should come from existing higher education subsidies that are currently disadvantaging alternative education options. Federal “BA Box.” The American labor market continues to experience a glut of college degrees. The country produces more college graduates than suitable jobs for them to fill. Meanwhile, employers exacerbate the problem, fueling demand for college by needlessly requiring degrees for many jobs. In 2020, the Trump Administration took an important step toward pro-worker, skills-based hiring practices. Executive Order 13932, Modernizing and Reforming the Assessment and Hiring of Federal Job Candidates,13 directed the Office of Personnel Management to reduce degree-based practices in the federal civil service. Maryland’s Governor Larry Hogan issued an executive order in 2022 to adopt this rule for Maryland state employees, and Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox in December of 2022 announced that Utah would do the same. Today, federal civil service job descriptions must “be based on the specific skills and competencies required to perform those jobs,” and may prescribe a “minimum educational requirement” only if it is otherwise legally required. The same policies do not extend beyond the civil service. Federal agencies continue to require college degrees for contract employees, and federal contractors are rarely able to place workers without four-year degrees on federal projects, regardless of their qualifications. Private employers consistently impose a BA requirement on jobs even when existing workers in the role do not have one. l Adopt the civil service’s skills-based hiring standards for federal contractors. The President should direct the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy to adopt the civil service’s skills-based hiring standards for federal contractors and issue waivers from degree-based staffing requirements in existing contracts. l Prohibit the use of a BA requirement in job descriptions. Congress should prohibit the inclusion of a BA requirement in job descriptions for all private sector employers, or the use of a BA requirement to screen applicants using algorithms, except where a BA from a particular type of institution or in a particular field is a bona fide requirement of the position.
Introduction
— 329 — Department of Education CHART 3 Long-Term Trends for Nine– and 13–Year-Olds READING, AVERAGE SCORES 300 280 13–YEAR-OLDS 260 263 260 240 NINE–YEAR-OLDS 220 221 220 200 1971 1975 1980 1984 ’88 ’90 ’92 ’94 ’96 1999 2004 2008 2012 2020 MATH, AVERAGE SCORES 300 13–YEAR-OLDS 280 285 280 260 NINE–YEAR-OLDS 240 244 241 220 200 1978 1982 1986 ’90 ’92 ’94 ’96 1999 2004 2008 2012 2020 SOURCE: The Nation’s Report Card, “NAEP Data Explorer,” https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx? n=PET&s=WCSSTUS1&f=W (accessed March 17, 2023). A heritage.org — 330 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise with the advice and consent of the Senate; (2) funded with annual appropriations from Congress; and (3) operated by professional managers. Federal loans would be assigned directly to the Treasury Department, which would manage collections and defaults. The new federal student loan authority would manage the loan port- folio, handle borrower relations, administer loan applications and disbursements, monitor institutional participation and accountability issues, and issue regulations. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) l OCR should move to the Department of Justice. The federal government has an essential responsibility to enforce civil rights protections, but Washington should do so through the Department of Justice and federal courts. The OCR at DOJ should be able to enforce only through litigation. Additional Bureaus and Offices For those attorneys, accountants, experts, and specialists in the department's remaining offices subject to closure whose positions might nevertheless be a key component of serving the mission—positions that might include the Office of the Secretary/Deputy Secretary, Office of the Undersecretary, Office of the General Counsel, Office of the Inspector General, Office of Finance and Operations, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office of Communications and Outreach, and Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs—the opportunity to join other agencies based on their expertise and the needs of other agencies should be made available. For example, OGC higher education lawyers would join the newly independent Federal Student Aid Office or the Department of Labor, and OGC civil rights attor- neys would join DOJ. These positions must first be determined to serve a continued mission need prior to being transferred. l Attorneys, accountants, experts, and specialists in the department’s remaining offices subject to closure, and whose positions are indispensable to serving the mission, should have the opportunity to join other agencies. Current Laws Relating to the Department of Education That Require Repeal In order to fully wind down the Department of Education, Congress must pass and the President must sign into law a Department of Education Reorganization Act (or Liquidating Authority Act) to direct the executive branch on how to devolve the agency as a stand-alone Cabinet-level department. l Congress should pass and the next President should sign a Department of Education Reorganization Act.
Introduction
— 606 — Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise and wasted resources, and artificially increases consumer prices. It is a significant problem that is difficult to address at the federal level. l Congress should ensure that interstate compacts for occupational license recognition that are federally funded do not require new or additional qualifications (that is, qualifications that do not originate from state governments themselves) for licensed professionals to participate. l Congress should ensure that well-qualified licensees are not locked out of the job market by restrictive government programs funded by the federal government. (For instance, medical doctors must complete residency training to practice, and because Medicare provides funding for significantly fewer residencies than there are doctors, sizable numbers of MDs are locked out of the job market every year.) Wagner–Peyser Staffing Flexibility. State agencies that administer unem- ployment benefits and workforce development programs should be able to hire the best people to do the job and should not be required to use state employees if a contractor can do the job better. Further, the federal government should not force a state to use non-union labor or union labor for these positions. l DOL should repromulgate the Trump-era staffing flexibility rule, and Congress should codify it. WORKER RETIREMENT SAVINGS, ESG, AND PENSION REFORMS l Remove ESG considerations from ERISA. Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) investing is a relatively recent strategy promoted by large asset managers that focuses not only on a company’s bottom line, but also on the company’s compliance with liberal political views on climate change, racial quotas, abortion, and other issues. The ESG movement has focused especially on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. For example, ESG proponents advocate for divestment from oil and gas companies or the exercise of investor influence to reduce oil and gas production. ESG considerations unrelated to investor risks and returns necessarily sacrifice trust law’s traditional sole focus on investment returns for collateral interests. And while individual investors may prefer to invest in “green” companies, “woke” companies, or companies with greater board diversity, and may even be willing to sacrifice some financial gains to do — 607 — Department of Labor and Related Agencies so, the question relevant to DOL is whether, and under what conditions, fiduciaries should be permitted to follow this path as well. While Americans are free to invest their own savings however they wish, in ERISA, Congress imposed strict duties on employer-sponsored worker retirement plans as a prophylactic protection of workers’ retirement security in general. Recognizing the unique status of employer-managed retirement savings, in ERISA, Congress required that fiduciaries exclusively seek the best interests of plan beneficiaries. Because ESG investing necessarily puts other considerations before the interests of the beneficiary, ESG investing by plan managers is an inappropriate strategy under ERISA. l DOL should prohibit investing in ERISA plans on the basis of any factors that are unrelated to investor risks and returns. l DOL should return to the Trump Administration’s approach of permitting only the consideration of pecuniary factors in ERISA. However, this approach should not preclude the consideration of legitimate non-ESG factors, such as corporate governance, supply chain investment in America, or family-supporting jobs. l DOL should consider taking enforcement and/or regulatory action to subject investment in China to greater scrutiny under ERISA. Many large retirement and pension plans remain invested in China despite its lack of compliance with U.S. accounting standards and state control over all aspects of private capital. Alternative View. Some conservatives believe that ERISA plan investments should be made solely on a pecuniary basis and the consideration of any non-pe- cuniary factor, ESG or otherwise, should be prohibited. Additionally, other conservatives believe that even though ESG investing is often not a sound finan- cial strategy, it is not wrong for retirement plans to offer ESG investment options so long as individuals explicitly acknowledge and choose to pursue investment options that do not exclusively maximize pecuniary gains. Thrift Savings Plan. The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) is the retirement savings benefit plan for most federal employees and many former employees. The TSP is managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB). At over $800 billion in assets under management, the TSP is one of the largest retirement plans in the world.
Showing 3 of 5 policy matches
About These Correlations
Policy matches are calculated using semantic similarity between bill summaries and Project 2025 policy text. A score of 60% or higher indicates meaningful thematic overlap. This does not imply direct causation or intent, but highlights areas where legislation aligns with Project 2025 policy objectives.