Gottheimer proposes national employer notification system for commercial driver records

A piece of legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer in the U.S. House seeks to implement a nationwide system that would notify employers about changes or updates to commercial driver license records, per the U.S. Congress.

Designated as H.R.7429, the bill was introduced on Feb. 9, 2026, during the 119th Congress’s regular session. The following is a summary based on the bill’s full text, with clarifications as needed.

The bill instructs the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) to build a national service that will automatically alert employers to changes in their employees’ commercial driver’s license records. Notifications will include updates about moving violations, crashes and changes in license status. The Secretary of Transportation is expected to issue regulations for this program within a year of the act’s approval, consulting input from both the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators and previous pilot project results. The law would require states to launch this system within two years and classifies schools and school districts as employers under its provisions. Employees will also be notified at the same time as employers when updates are sent. The FMCSA regulations must take effect one year after passage; states have an additional year to comply.

The measure was filed by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (Democrat-NJ-5th District) with Rep. Michael Lawler (Republican-NJ-17th District) as a co-sponsor.

Rep. Gottheimer has put forward 52 other bills since the current session began.

A companion measure, S.3807, was introduced in the Senate on the same day. Congressional documentation identifies it as functionally identical to H.R.7429.

Congressional bills may originate in either the U.S. House or Senate, except for revenue bills, which must start in the House. After introduction, each proposal is referred to committee for consideration, hearings, amendments and debate before advancing to a vote. If approved in the same form by both chambers, the bill is sent to the president, who can sign or veto it. Congress is organized into two-year terms, each divided into two annual sessions and numbered sequentially. The legislative workload and official records are maintained by Congress and published at Congress.gov.

Josh S. Gottheimer serves as a representative from New Jersey. Elected as a Democrat, he has served in the One Hundred Fifteenth Congress and the four that followed, beginning Jan. 3, 2017. Gottheimer holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania (1997) and a J.D. from Harvard Law School (2004).

Information for this report comes from the U.S. Congress. Detailed source data can be found here.