New legislation passed in Connecticut to include Romanian, Ukrainian and several other 24 languages on the list to be used by the State of Connecticut DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) when administering the driving knowledge test. The S.B. 994 was signed by the Connecticut Governor on June 12th. This provision requires the knowledge test for a class D drivers' license to be offered in at least an additional 26 languages. The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) commissioner will have consultations with representatives of the immigrant and refugee populations to determine which new languages will be included.

This is a result of advocacy efforts by a broad coalition of pro-immigrant voices, including Honorary Consul and Immigration Attorney Dana Bucin who testified before Connecticut legislature’s Transportation Committee in support of bill HB 6656 - which now became law - to eliminate the minimum 1% threshold of the general population that an ethnic community must meet before they can take the driving knowledge test in their native language.  This new law will enable Romanian speakers with limited English proficiency to access the test in Romanian and thus to integrate into the workforce and have mobility in transportation at the earliest possible opportunity. 
Congratulations to our advocacy partners: IRIS - Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services, Connecticut for Ukraine Refugee Matching Program, American Immigration Lawyers Association (CT Chapter), CT Immigrant & Refugee Coalition - CIRC, Connecticut Institute for Refugees and Immigrants and several others for coming together around this issue on behalf of immigrants and refugees!