---
type: "Bill"
title: "require that any holder of a commercial driver license in this state must be proficient in the English language, and to provide a penalty therefor."
description: "require that any holder of a commercial driver license in this state must be proficient in the English language, and to provide a penalty therefor."
jurisdiction: "us/states/sd"
legislature: "South Dakota Legislature"
session: "2026"
identifier: "SB 164"
citation: "South Dakota SB 164 (2026)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Commercial Trucking", "Driver License", "Law Enforcement", "Motor Vehicles", "Penalty", "Promulgation of Rules"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Goodwin", "Howard", "Jensen (Phil)", "Jordan", "Nelson", "Perry", "Sjaarda"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 17
vote_count: 5
first_action: "2026-01-29"
last_action: "2026-03-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cdd0cf7c-9796-407e-af64-9fcfa554e97d"
source_url: "https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/27154"
source_hash: "37ccddbc163c029aaacb300e907fa59499491bea5b12e5fb9898c5b1d2553d68"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-sd"]
---

# South Dakota SB 164 (2026) — require that any holder of a commercial driver license in this state must be proficient in the English language, and to provide a penalty therefor.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/27154/299227)
2. **164A** (committee substitute) — [source](https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/301855.pdf)
3. **House Transportation Engrossed** (committee substitute) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/27154/304798)
4. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/27154/306312)

## Votes

- Do Pass — **29–5** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended — **60–5** (pass) · lower
- Do Pass — **5–2** (pass) · upper
- Concurred in amendments — **32–2** (pass) · upper
- Do Pass Amended — **10–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Goodwin — primary (person)
- Howard — primary (person)
- Jensen (Phil) — primary (person)
- Jordan — primary (person)
- Nelson — primary (person)
- Perry — primary (person)
- Sjaarda — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-29** First read in Senate and referred to Senate Transportation S.J. 142 `introduction, reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2026-02-04** Scheduled for hearing S.J. 1
- **2026-02-04** Transportation Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 5, NAYS 2 S.J. 9 `committee-passage`
- **2026-02-05** Senate Do Pass , Passed, YEAS 29, NAYS 5 S.J. 201 `passage`
- **2026-02-06** First Reading House H.J. 247
- **2026-02-09** Referred to House Transportation H.J. 262 `referral-committee`
- **2026-02-24** Scheduled for hearing
- **2026-02-24** Transportation Motion to amend , Passed, Amendment 164A `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage`
- **2026-02-24** Transportation Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 10, NAYS 0
- **2026-02-24** Certified uncontested, placed on consent , Passed,
- **2026-02-26** Remove from Consent Calendar H.J. 457
- **2026-03-02** House of Representatives Do Pass Amended , Passed, YEAS 60, NAYS 5 H.J. 472
- **2026-03-04** Senate Concurred in amendments , Passed, YEAS 32, NAYS 2 S.J. 457
- **2026-03-05** Signed by the President S.J. 485 `passage`
- **2026-03-09** Signed by the Speaker H.J. 543 `passage`
- **2026-03-10** Delivered to the Governor on 2026-03-10 S.J. 510 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-03-11** Signed by the Governor on 2026-03-11 S.J. 518 `executive-signature, executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cdd0cf7c-9796-407e-af64-9fcfa554e97d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official South Dakota legislature records).