Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently halted a bill that would have put CDL training in Florida prisons.
The CS/CS/HB 325 entitled the Education and Workforce Development for Inmates “authorized Florida’s Correctional Education Program to implement career and technical education program in which certain inmates can earn specified commercial driver licenses; provides eligibility; authorizes inmate to be transported in or to operate state-owned vehicle under certain circumstances; requires certified correctional officer to be present during such transport or operation.”
According to DeSantis’ veto document, the bill allows inmates to operate a state-owned vehicle outside of the fence for the purpose
of completing program requirements or demonstrating proficiency in the program and
requires that such an operation must be under the supervision of a correctional officer.
The specifics of the bill appeared to address the Governor’s concern by specifying “nonviolent inmates who are proficient in English and have two years or less remaining on their sentence” as part of the qualifications for the program.
DeSantis did not budge.
“Not only is this new program unnecessarily burdensome to the Department of Corrections staff and its facilities, but it also creates significant public safety concerns by authorizing incarcerated individuals to operate commercial vehicles in public thoroughfares,” DeSantis wrote. “Florida’s commitment to enhancing workforce development efforts and supporting our state’s trucking industry is clear, and while portions of the bill may support both goals, those can be achieved through the existing oversight of both the Department of Corrections and the Department of Transportation, that do not put our roads at risk.”
Advocates for such programs in recent months have pointed out that the trucking industry has been used for decades to rehabilitate those who have been incarcerated and such programs have made dents in recividism numbers.
During a seminar on Fair Chance Recruiting last January, James Hazelton, employer partnerships manager for FreeWorld said trucking can be a path to rehabilitation, even if the crime is of a serious nature.
Hazelton said it’s important to review the available data, both about the individual and about recidivism. However, he also notes that in his experience, serious offenders may actually be less prone to recidivism than those convicted of misdemeanors.
“They’ve been in prison for a very long time; they’ve learned their lesson,” he explained.
Hazelton says FreeWorld has graduated about 3,000 CDL holders over the past five years, with only a 5% recidivism rate.
According to Molly Raynor, senior talent acquisition specialist for KeHe Distributors, those known as “justice-impacted applicants” are “ready, willing, able, and often highly motivated to rebuild their lives behind the wheel.”
It’s important to note that practicing fair chance recruiting does NOT mean putting safety on the back burner.
“Any discussion of hiring must begin and end with safety,” Raynor said, noting that carriers that are considering fair chance policies should ask themselves some hard questions, both about hiring practices in general and about safety.
“Are our current hiring policies truly safety policies, or are they simply policies of exclusion? Are we mistakenly filtering out some of the most determined, dedicated, and safety-conscious future drivers?” she said. “A past mistake — often tied to abuse, trafficking or economic survival — can create a permanent barrier.”
Bruce Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has lived in three states including Arkansas, Missouri and Georgia. During his nearly 20-year career, Bruce has served as managing editor and sports editor for numerous publications. He and his wife, Dana, who is also a journalist, are based in Carrollton, Georgia.
