BILL ANALYSIS
AB 772
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 772 (Ammiano)
As Introduced February 26, 2009
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 5-2
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|Ayes:|Caballero, Arambula, | | |
| |Davis, Krekorian, Skinner | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Knight, Duvall | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Establishes the Local Government Identification Act,
which would authorize counties to issue local
identificationcards (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
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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
certain circumstances.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : 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.
This bill exempts from the Public Records Act the names and
other identifying information of those applying for and
receiving local ID cards. This bill 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 Legislature 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
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financial institution, whether or not the local ID card
presented to the third party was not counterfeit.
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 (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.
This bill 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 this bill'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
Legislature may wish to consider whether there is a probability
that banks would accept a local ID card as authorized under this
bill.
This bill 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
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name, date of birth, gender, expiration date, and
tamper-resistant feature. Because the local ID cards would be
neither state-issued nor identify the gender of the passenger,
the local ID cards would not be accepted by TSA. The
Legislature may want to consider whether the limitations of the
local ID card program are worth the potential costs to local
governments of administering it.
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 Legislature 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.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer R. Klein / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0000607