Driving a commercial vehicle without a commercial drivers license is currently a Class C misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine of up to $500. The Senate committee substitute would remove the Class C misdemeanor designation and stipulate that the fine may not exceed $500 unless it is shown on the trial of the offense that the defendant had been previously convicted of the same offense within the past year. Under that circumstance the fine for the second conviction could be enhanced not to exceed $1,000.

The second chamber sponsor is Senator Van Taylor.

The Senate committee substitute is a more reasonable way to address the issue of repeat offenders of this particular statute than the original version passed by the House which would have made a second offense a Class B misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine up to $2,000 and up to 180 days in jail. While we would have opposed the enhancement provided for by the House version, we are less troubled by the version as reported out of the Senate Transportation Committee. For this reason we are neutral on HB 1888