BILL ANALYSIS
AB 772
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 772 (Ammiano) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
SUBJECT : The Local Government Identification Act.
SUMMARY : Establishes the Local Government Identification Act,
which would authorize counties to issue local identification
cards (local ID cards) to persons who can provide proof of
identity and proof of residency within the county.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Authorizes a county to issue a local ID card to its residents
on a voluntary basis.
2)Prohibits the local ID card from displaying the cardholder's
gender.
3)States that a minor, 13 years of age and older, is allowed to
apply for a local ID card so long as the proofs of identity
and residency are met and the minor's parent or legal guardian
completes the application.
4)Requires the county clerk to keep confidential the names and
other identifying information or persons applying for and
receiving local ID cards. The county clerk is prohibited from
keeping a record of the applicant's residential address.
5)Limits the board of supervisors to imposing a fee of not more
than $15 per local ID card for persons over the age of 18 and
a fee of not more than $5 per local ID card for minors and
seniors who present proof of age.
6)Requires every county agency, department, and office in a
county that elects to issue local ID cards to accept the local
ID cards for proof of identification or proof of residency
except where otherwise provided for by law.
EXISTING LAW authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV)
to issue an identification card to any person attesting to the
true full name, correct age, and other identifying data as
certified by the applicant for the identification card, and
authorizes DMV to refuse to issue an identification card under
AB 772
Page 2
certain circumstances.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)The author states that existing state and federal law
establishes provisions for state-issued identification cards
that require documentation of a person's gender and legal
immigration status. Many residents are ineligible to receive
an identification card or driver's license from DMV because of
their status as an undocumented immigrant. Some transgender
individuals, who publicly identify as a gender different than
that on their driver's license or DMV identification card, are
turned away or made uncomfortable when they try to use their
ID.
The author says that those individuals without legal,
recognized, government-issued ID cards are unable to open bank
accounts, prove age, prove residency, or otherwise demonstrate
proof of identity when necessary.
2)AB 772 exempts from the Public Records Act the names and other
identifying information of those applying for and receiving
local ID cards. AB 772 goes a step further and also prohibits
the county clerk from keeping a record of an applicant's
residential address. Under current law, any residence address
provided to DMV is confidential, but a mailing address can be
disclosed under certain circumstances, such as the assessment
of driver risk or ownership of vehicles. Someone who is the
subject of stalking also can make a request to keep all of
their DMV records confidential. Specified officials, such as
judges, can request to keep their residential address
confidential, too. The Committee may wish to consider whether
requiring a county clerk to not even keep a record of
applicants' residential address in addition to making the
names and other identifying information of applicants
confidential is too broad. Under these proposed restrictions,
a county clerk might not be able to verify to a third party,
such as a financial institution, whether or not the local ID
card presented to the third party was not counterfeit.
3)As part of the USA Patriot Act, federally regulated banks and
saving associations, credit unions, and non-federally
regulated private banks, trust companies, and credit unions
AB 772
Page 3
(banks) are required to comply with Customer Identification
Program regulation (CIP), 31 CFR 103.121, for all accounts
established on or after October 1, 2003. Banks are required
to implement a written CIP that includes, among other things,
account-opening procedures that specify the identifying
information that will be obtained from each customer. These
procedures must enable the bank to form a reasonable belief
that it knows the true identity of each customer. At a
minimum, banks are required to obtain from each customer
opening an account their name, date of birth, address, and
taxpayer identification number. The banks are required to
then use documentary methods to verify a customer's identity.
Certain types of documents have long been considered primary
sources of identification, including a driver's license and
passport, and are preferred. Other forms of identification
may be used if they enable the bank to form a reasonable
belief that it knows the true identity of the customer.
However, banks are warned by the federal government that
counterfeit and fraudulently obtained documents are widely
available.
AB 772 would allow counties to issue local ID cards that banks
may or may not accept as a valid form of verifying a
customer's identity. The USA Patriot Act does not prohibit a
bank from accepting this form of identification, but it also
cautions banks on accepting identification that could be easy
to counterfeit and obtain fraudulently. Because it is unclear
under AB 772's provisions whether a bank would be unable to
verify with the county issuing the local ID cards that a local
ID card was issued for that person, a bank may be unable to
form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of
the customer presenting the local ID card. Therefore, the
Committee may wish to consider whether there is a probability
that banks would accept a local ID card as authorized under AB
772.
4)AB 772 will not be accepted as a valid form of passenger
identification at airports or for entering federal buildings.
The federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
accepts only a federal or state-issued identification that
contains the name, date of birth,
gender, expiration date, and tamper-resistant feature. Because
the local ID cards would be neither state-issued nor identify
AB 772
Page 4
the gender of the passenger, the local ID cards would not be
accepted by TSA. The Committee may want to consider whether
the limitations of the local ID card program are worth the
potential costs to local governments of administering it.
5)The San Francisco City ID Card (SFIDC) program was approved by
an ordinance passed November 20, 2007, by the board of
supervisors. The program officially started January 15, 2009.
The Committee may wish to consider whether it would be better
to wait for this pilot program to complete two years in
existence as each card is valid for two years before approving
a statewide program. There might be certain features of the
SFIDC program that are found to be missing or others that
prove to be burdensome on either individuals or the City and
County of San Francisco.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Civil Liberties Union
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer R. Klein / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958