Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., on Thursday introduced legislation that would withhold significant federal highway funding from states that issue driver’s licenses or commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs) to undocumented immigrants or that restrict sharing immigration-enforcement information with the federal government.
The bill, titled the SAFE Driving Laws Act and announced in a statement from Miller’s office to Fox News Digital, targets 19 states Miller’s office describes as "sanctuary states." Under the legislation, states that permit undocumented immigrants to obtain either individual driver’s licenses or CDLs, or that prohibit or restrict local or state entities from collecting and sharing immigration enforcement information with the Department of Homeland Security, would face a 50% withholding of funds from two federal programs: the National Highway Performance Program and the Surface Transportation Block Grant program. The penalty would take effect in fiscal year 2027, which begins Oct. 1, 2026, and would apply for that fiscal year and any subsequent year the state remains out of compliance, Miller’s office said.
Miller’s office said the proposed withholding is one of the largest federal highway penalties and far exceeds the 8% penalty historically used for states that do not enforce the federal drinking age. Using fiscal year 2025 allocation figures, the office estimated that California would forfeit about $1.9 billion, Illinois about $788 million and New York about $900 million if the states did not comply.
In the bill text and accompanying statements, Miller cited a recent fatal crash in Florida as a motivating example. Authorities in St. Lucie County have charged Harjinder Singh, 28, with vehicular homicide after an alleged illegal U-turn led to a crash that killed three people. Singh was granted work authorization by the federal government in 2021, obtained a Washington state driver’s license in 2023 and a California CDL in 2024, according to reporting by Fox News Digital. Following the crash, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration examined his English proficiency and road sign comprehension; agency tests reportedly found low scores on sign identification and basic English understanding.
Miller said in the Fox News Digital statement that "sanctuary states like Illinois are gambling with American lives by handing out driver’s licenses and CDLs to illegal aliens," calling the policy "dangerous" and asserting the bill would force compliance or risk deep funding penalties. The legislation would also require the secretaries of Transportation and Homeland Security to maintain a publicly available database listing each state's compliance status.
A spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, dismissed the effort as "a witch hunt based on lies against states that follow federal law," according to Fox News Digital. The offices of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the report said.
The bill would attach immigration-related compliance conditions to two major federal surface transportation funding streams that states use for highway construction and maintenance. Federal transportation grants are regularly conditioned on state actions; however, the scale of the proposed 50% withholding would represent a substantially larger penalty than many previous federal conditions, Miller’s office emphasized.
Miller's proposal reflects a broader Republican argument that state policies expanding access to driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants can compromise public safety, particularly for commercial driving where employers and regulators have long required language and testing standards. Supporters of state laws that allow undocumented immigrants to obtain licenses argue those laws improve road safety by ensuring drivers are tested and insured; governors and state officials who have enacted such policies have framed them as public-safety measures. The bill frames the issue in federal funding terms and seeks to compel a uniform nationwide posture by using the budget levers tied to federal highway programs.
Fox News Digital reported that Miller’s office estimates large fiscal consequences for noncompliant states, but did not provide an independent legal analysis of how the proposed conditions would fare in court. Past federal conditions on state funding have produced litigation over the limits of Congress’s power to place strings on federal grants and over federalism protections in the U.S. Constitution.
The SAFE Driving Laws Act remains in its initial stages; the bill text and official co-sponsors were not listed in the statement made available to Fox News Digital. Miller has been an outspoken critic of state-level sanctuary policies and has previously called for tighter federal-state cooperation on immigration enforcement. Fox News Digital’s report indicated the story was filed in coordination with the congresswoman’s office and credited reporter Peter Pinedo and Preston Mizell for contributions.
If introduced formally in Congress, the bill would enter a legislative process that typically includes committee referral, hearings and potential amendment. Any federal statute imposing new conditions on highway funding would also face political debate in a divided Congress and possible legal challenges from states that view the conditions as coercive. For now, Miller’s office frames the bill as a measure to protect motorists and to ensure states cooperate with federal immigration authorities on matters tied to licensing and enforcement.