BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE
Senator Patricia Wiggins, Chair
BILL NO: AB 772 HEARING: 7/8/09
AUTHOR: Ammiano FISCAL: No
VERSION: 2/26/09 CONSULTANT: Ho
LOCAL GOVERNMENT IDENTIFICATION ACT
Background and Existing Law
The California Constitution gives charter cities broad
control over their "municipal affairs." General law cities
and counties, by contrast, only have the powers delegated
to them by statute.
State law authorizes the State Department of Motor Vehicles
(DMV) to issue identification (ID) cards to persons of any
age. The ID card looks like a driver license, but is used
for identification purposes only. Applicants for a
state-issued ID card must verify their true full name,
birth date, and legal presence in the United States. It is
a misdemeanor for any person to assist knowingly in
obtaining an ID card for any person whose presence in the
United State is not authorized under federal law (SB 976,
Alquist, 1993).
In June 2007, New Haven, Connecticut began issuing Elm City
Residence Cards, becoming the first city to offer local ID
cards to city residents regardless of citizenship status.
In November 2007, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
approved the City ID Card program, which is open to all San
Francisco residents regardless of their citizenship status.
San Francisco officials have issued more than 3,100 City
ID Cards since January 15, 2009.
State law is silent on counties' authority to issue local
ID cards. Some legislators want state law to expressly
authorize counties to issue local ID cards and to establish
guidelines for county ID card programs.
Proposed Law
Assembly Bill 772 establishes the Local Government
Identification Act, authorizing a county's board of
supervisors to issue local identification (ID) cards to
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persons who have been present in the county for at least 15
continuous days and who can provide proof of identity and
residency. AB 772 specifies the documents that may be
submitted as satisfactory proof of identity and proof of
residency. The bill requires a local ID card to display,
at minimum, the cardholder's name, photograph, date of
birth, and expiration date, but prohibits a card from
displaying the cardholder's gender.
AB 772 requires the county clerk to keep confidential the
names and other identifying information of applicants and
recipients of local ID cards. The bill prohibits the
county clerk from keeping a record of applicants'
residential addresses.
AB 772 permits the county board of supervisors to charge a
maximum fee of $15 for a local ID card for persons over the
age of 18 and a maximum fee of $5 for a card for minors and
seniors who can present proof of age. The county
supervisors must provide for a reduced application fee or a
waiver of the application fee for low-income applicants who
can present proof of income.
For a county that chooses to issue local ID cards, AB 772
requires every county agency, department, and office, every
city within the county, and every city agency, department,
and office within the county to accept a local ID card as
proof of identity and residency.
Comments
1. A card for everyone . Local ID cards can promote
community cohesion and increase civic participation.
Because undocumented immigrants are ineligible for
government-issued forms of identification, including state
ID cards and driver's licenses, they face barriers with law
enforcement, financial institutions, and municipal
services. Some barriers are not institutional, but exist
because undocumented immigrants are reluctant to present
foreign ID for fear of discrimination or deportation.
Traditional forms of ID also do not accurately reflect a
transgender individual's gender; some transgender
individuals have been turned away or made uncomfortable
when they tried to use their legal forms of ID. Local
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officials may partner with local banks, businesses, and
public agencies to increase the usefulness of local ID
cards. San Francisco residents can use their local ID
cards to open a bank account at participating banks, check
out library books, and use local parks and recreation
facilities. By enabling counties to issue local ID cards,
AB 772 gives local officials a new tool for fostering civic
engagement, promoting social equity, improving public
safety, and streamlining local services.
2. Not a role for counties . As administrative arms of the
state, county governments focus on public safety, social
services, and public health programs. They also deliver
municipal-type services to unincorporated communities.
Already overburdened and underfunded, counties struggle to
fulfill state mandates and still serve their local
constituencies. While charter cities like San Francisco
can use their constitutional power over municipal affairs
to create local ID card programs, counties need to stay
focused on delivering essential public services.
Legislators don't need to add to county supervisors'
existing problems by inviting them to set up local ID card
programs.
3. County option, city requirement . If a county decides
to issue local ID cards, AB 772 requires every city,
including every agency, department, and office of the city,
within the county to accept the county's ID cards as proof
of identity and residency. Cities do not have any
discretion over whether they want to accept county-issued
ID cards as valid forms of identification. This
requirement, however, doesn't extend to school districts,
special districts, or redevelopment agencies. To avoid
uneven treatment, the Committee may wish to consider two
possible responses. First, the Legislature could require
all local agencies to accept a county's ID card.
Alternatively, the Legislature could require local
acceptance, but allow cities, school districts, special
districts, and redevelopment agencies to opt-out.
4. A potential fiscal barrier . AB 772 limits the maximum
fee that county officials can charge for a local ID card to
$15 for adults and $5 for minors and seniors. However, the
San Francisco County Clerk's Office says that those fees do
not recover the true costs of producing a local ID card.
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The Committee may wish to consider allowing counties to
charge a fee that does not exceed the estimated reasonable
cost of providing this service.
5. Banking on local ID cards . AB 772 allows counties to
issue local ID cards that banks may or may not accept as
proof of identity. While the USA PATRIOT Act requires
financial institutions to establish minimum procedures for
identifying and verifying the identity of customers,
federal and state laws do not prohibit financial
institutions from accepting local ID cards for the purposes
of opening a financial account. Eight local banks accept
the San Francisco City ID Card as a primary form of
identification to open a bank account. Whether banks in
California accept local ID cards depends on the reliability
and integrity of a county's local ID card program. Whether
a county's local ID card program is reliable and
trustworthy depends on the county's procedures for
verifying a cardholder's identity and address and the
county's ability to produce ID cards with sufficient
safeguards against counterfeit reproduction.
6. Technical amendment needed . To avoid confusion and
ambiguity, the Committee should adopt technical amendments
that replace the undefined term "municipal identification
card" with the defined term "local identification card"
throughout AB 772.
Assembly Actions
Assembly Local Government Committee: 5-2
Assembly Floor: 50-30
Support and Opposition (7/2/09)
Support : American Civil Liberties Union, Asian Law Caucus,
Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action, City of
Oakland, Hermandad Mexicana Lationamericana, Mexican
American Political Assocaition, PICO California, San
Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community
Center, St. Peter's Housing Committee, Task Force on the
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Americas; Francisco Garcia, Laiza Garcia, Maria Medina,
Gloria Pantoja, Xochitl Rico.
Opposition : Unknown.