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S. 1284 119th Congress Senate

Driving Forward Act

Official title: A bill to permanently extend the exemption from the engine compartment portion of the pre-trip vehicle inspection skills testing requirement for school bus drivers, and for other purposes.

Introduced: April 3, 2025 Introduced by: John Cornyn Republican · Texas See on congress.gov
Transportation and Public Works
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 Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Apr 3, 2025
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Apr 3, 2025
Introduced in Senate
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What's happening now April 3, 2025

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Driving Forward Act

This bill directs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to permanently allow states to exempt school bus drivers from the “under-the-hood” testing requirement for a commercial driver's license (CDL).

As background, on December 2, 2024, the FMCSA renewed an exemption through November 28, 2026, that allows states to exempt all school bus driver applicants for a CDL from the engine compartment portion of the pre-trip vehicle inspection skills testing requirement, commonly referred to as the under-the-hood testing requirement. States must meet certain terms and conditions for the exemption.

Under the bill, the FMCSA must make permanent the December 2, 2024, exemption, thus permanently allowing states to exempt school bus drivers from the under-the-hood testing requirement. States must meet the additional terms and conditions for an exemption, which include (1) restricting school bus drivers who are issued a CDL based on the exemption to the intrastate operation of school buses, and (2) requiring states to conduct the remaining pre-trip vehicle inspection components of the skills test.

Further, the FMCSA must require any state participating in the exemption to submit an annual report describing the number of drivers that obtain a CDL under the exemption.

 Related & companion bills 1
  • HR 2360 To permanently extend the exemption from the engine compartment portion of the pre-trip vehicle inspection skills testi…
 Bill text 1 version

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

 Committees of jurisdiction 1
 Lobbying activity 6

Registered lobbyists who named this bill in their disclosure filings. Source: federal Lobbying Disclosure Act filings.

Bodies those filers lobbied

A filing lists the bills it worked on and the parts of government it contacted in separate sections, so these are the bodies those filers named anywhere in the filing, not a per-bill breakdown.

 Cosponsors 7
All 7 Democratic 3 Republican 4
R
Daines, Steve
Montana · Mar 16, 2026
 R
Moody, Ashley
Florida · Aug 1, 2025
 R
Young, Todd
Indiana · Apr 7, 2025
 D
Baldwin, Tammy
Wisconsin · Apr 3, 2025
 R
Blackburn, Marsha
Tennessee · Apr 3, 2025
 D
Gillibrand, Kirsten E.
New York · Apr 3, 2025
 D
Kelly, Mark
Arizona · Apr 3, 2025
Cite this page click to expand
APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1284: Driving Forward Act. 119th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1284/
MLA
"S. 1284: Driving Forward Act." 119th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1284/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1284, 119th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1284/.
Markdown link
[S. 1284: Driving Forward Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/119-S-1284/)
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