TAMPA, Fla. — The Florida Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles announced that starting on Friday, Feb. 6, it will only offer knowledge and skills tests for drivers in English.
“This is not a decision made by the tax collector’s office,” said Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano. “This was made by the Florida Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which is also known by many as the DMV. They make these decisions. We are an agent of that department, and we have to follow their policy, their rules.”
Fasano said normally with a change as drastic as this, county offices would get notice weeks in advance. This time, they have just a week to try to get the word out to the public. Tax collectors aren’t the only ones who are surprised.
“Number one — I was in shock. Number two — I was angry, because it became personal for me,” said Itamar Martinez.
Martinez is now the one Hispanics who are new to Tampa Bay come to for help through his business, Centro De Ayuda Hispano.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Martinez said. “People call looking for a job. They’re just moving to the city and they don’t have contacts.”
Martinez told Spectrum News he gets 1,800 calls a year from people asking for everything from a legal referral to enrolling kids in school. He estimated 70% of his clients speak only Spanish.
“Especially if you look at someone that’s only been here for five years, yeah — they’d rather speak in their language to be understood,” he said.
But it was once his family who needed guidance. He said they immigrated from Cuba to Portugal and, finally, to the U.S. in 1989. When they arrived, his mother needed a driver’s license.
“My mom is 85 years old today, and she’s been driving all those years. If she had to take that test in English, she wouldn’t be able to be a productive member of our society,” Martinez said.
FLHSMV said in a statement, “Language translation services will no longer be permitted for knowledge or skills examinations, and any printed exams in languages other than English will be removed for use.”
“This comes as a surprise because translations in administering road tests or skills tests have been in place for decades,” said Hillsborough County Tax Collector Nancy Millan.
According to Millan’s office, it administered more than 13,000 skills tests in languages other than English in 2025. That’s about 37% of exams given that year.
“I know that there’s a lot of barriers when you first come into this country, especially when you’re at an age where another language was your first language,” said Millan, the daughter of Cuban immigrants. “I believe that everyone should, in America, should speak English, but it’s not something that happens overnight.”
Millan said tests have been offered in multiple languages, including Haitian-Creole, Portuguese and Chinese.
“We have many of our road testers who speak several languages, and it has been extremely helpful for those who are taking road tests,” Fasano said.
Fasano also said his offices provide many services to non-U.S. citizens who are in the country legally, as well as others whose primary language isn’t English.
“Many of them are U.S. citizens. Many of them come from Puerto Rico, who are U.S. citizens, by the way. It’s going to have a big impact on them,” he said.
Martinez said he’d like to see people given more time — potentially by being able to take their initial tests in the language of their choice, then taking an English only test after they’ve had more time to learn the language.
“Just telling someone cold, telling someone, ‘As of next week, if you don’t know English, you’re SOL’? That’s not fair,” he said.
FLHSMV declined a request for comment. It didn’t give a reason for the change, but its statement concludes, “FLHSMV remains committed to ensuring safe roadways for all Floridians and visitors by promoting clear communication, understanding of traffic laws, and responsible driving behavior.”