Just days after word leaked out that the California DMV would eliminate bilingual driving tests in 25 languages, the agency reversed itself.
The Sacramento Bee first reported on an April 27 memo outlining plans to drop tests in 25 languages including Korean, Tagalog, Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, Japanese, Samoan, and Thai.
Senator Dave Min (D-Orange County) spoke out against the plans that would have left tests in 7 languages- English, Spanish, Armenian, Chinese, Hindi, Punjabi and Vietnamese.
“DMV’s proposal would have deprived Korean Americans and other New Americans of their ability to legally drive,” Min said in a statement.
He applauded Gov. Gavin Newsom for stopping the idea “that would have harmed so many Asian Americans and communities of color, at a time when these same communities feel unwelcome and under attack during a wave of anti-Asian violence.”
The changes that were planned were part of a modernization effort by the DMV that would the agency said would have covered 95% of all drivers.
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