Florida’s fulfillment near; Duffy says he’ll pull $160M from California

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(The Center Square) – Florida’s wishes for federal transportation money revocation in California will come to fruition in the wake of a triple fatal wreck on its turnpike.

Appearing on a Sunday broadcast network show, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s “about to pull $160 million from California.” Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier earlier this month asked for federal money in California and Washington to be revoked, and he filed petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to stop commercial driver’s license program authority in the states.

The nation’s high court hasn’t ruled.

“As we pull more money, we also have the option of pulling California’s ability to issue commercial driver’s licenses,” Duffy said.

Uthmeier made the request in the wake of an Aug. 12 triple fatal on the Florida Turnpike. Prosecutors say Harjinder Singh driving an 18-wheeler, tried to U-turn on the Florida Turnpike through a point in the divided highway marked “official use only.” The speed limit at mile marker 171 is 70 mph.

Homeland Security’s link to video from Breaking911, shot from inside the truck, shows the graphic collision that followed. Three people in a minivan were killed when the trailer suddenly appeared crossing their lanes.

Tuesday on the 10 Freeway in Ontario, Calif., 21-year-old Jashanpreet Singh of India was driving an 18-wheeler that never braked before instigating a rear-end collision with eight vehicles, said the California Highway Patrol. In addition to three dead, four others were hospitalized.

Thursday, Homeland Security filed an arrest detainer for Jashanpreet Singh, saying he entered the country through the southern border in 2022 and was released into the United States by the Biden administration.

Neither man named Singh is related, according to published reports.

Uthmeier revealed last week Harjinder Singh 10 times failed the written portion of the CDL exam. Singh had correct responses to two of 12 verbal questions on an English language proficiency assessment and correctly identified only one of four highway traffic signs during an interview with the Motor Carrier Administration after he had been taken into custody.

Duffy has threatened to pull money from the state of Washington as well.