MISSISSIPPI - 'Jesus Take the Wheel Act'

"Mississippi House passes 'Jesus Take the Wheel Act'" by Jen Hayden, Daily KOS

Mississippi lawmakers are once again tackling the big issues in the state.  The highest poverty rate of any state in the country?  Hahahaha ... no.  The second-highest high school dropout rate in the country?  No, no.  The second-highest teen pregnancy rate in the country?  Awww, hell no.

What is more pressing than extreme poverty?  Well, the Mississippi House did pass a bill (HB 132), nicknamed the "Jesus Take the Wheel Act", that would exempt churches from commercial driver's license requirements:

"This just allows small churches, some don't have people with commercial licenses at all, and they can pick a person to drive the bus," said state Rep. Robert Johnson III, D-Natchez, who chairs the Transportation Committee which had passed the bill earlier in the session.

Current law requires CDL-certified drivers for any vehicle transporting more than 16 passengers, including the driver.  The bill would amend that law to exempt church buses designed to carry 30 passengers or less.

To be clear, we aren't talking about extended passenger vans.  Thirty-passenger buses, like the one pictured below, are much larger than vans and all other business and schools would still have to have a CDL license to operate such a vehicle.

Since the exemption would also include buses and large transport vehicles carry children to and from events, not everyone is happy about the exemption:

When contacted by The Clarion-Ledger, longtime CDL-certified driver Troy Coll of Hattiesburg called the measure potentially dangerous.

"I think this bill is trading the safety of everyone on the road for the convenience of those operating church vehicles," Coll said.  "Since the bill covers vehicles up to 30 passengers, we're not just talking vans with extra rows of seats – these are buses, with long frames and much larger blind spots than passenger vehicles."