BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: AB 2189
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  cedillo
                                                         VERSION: 
          8/24/2012
          Analysis by:  Eric Thronson                    FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  August 28, 2012



          SUBJECT:

          Driver's licenses

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill allows a vehicle rental company to verify a renter's 
          identity by comparison of the driver's license photograph to the 
          driver renting the vehicle, creates an exemption from the 
          verification requirement for a rental company that is located 
          remotely, and specifies that a person whose presence in the 
          United States is authorized by federal law, but who is 
          ineligible for a social security number, is eligible to obtain a 
          driver's license in California.

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law defines a rental company as a person or entity in 
          the business of renting passenger vehicles to the public.  
          Besides traditional car rental companies at airports and other 
          commercial locations, new business models have emerged such as 
          the development of a new car rental business model knowing as 
          "car sharing."  A person who wishes to use the services of a car 
          sharing program does not have to go into a rental car company's 
          office; he or she may sign up for membership online, and after 
          the company checks the person's driving record, is provided with 
          a card which enables the person to rent a vehicle on an hourly 
          or daily basis.  As such, reservations for a car can be made by 
          simply going online or using a mobile phone application.

          Existing law requires any rental company to verify that the 
          driver seeking to rent a vehicle is licensed within the state or 
          country he or she lives.  The company is required also to 
          inspect the driver's license of the renter and verify his or her 
          identity by comparing the signature on the license with the 
          signature of the individual renter.





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          Before issuing an original driver's license or identification 
          card, existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles 
          (DMV) to both obtain an applicant's social security number and 
          verify that his or her presence in this country is authorized 
          under federal law.  If an applicant provides proof of his or her 
          presence with a document that expires before the issued driver's 
          license would otherwise expire, such as a limited time work 
          visa, the DMV matches the expiration date on the license with 
          the date on the verification document.

          On June 15, 2012, President Obama signed an executive order 
          regarding the deferred action for childhood arrivals process, 
          allowing undocumented immigrants who came to the United States 
          as children to remain legally in the country.  The policy, while 
          not granting permanent legal status, allows these young 
          immigrants to work legally and obtain driver's licenses and 
          other documents.  The order states that the Department of 
          Homeland Security will no longer initiate the deportation of 
          immigrants who came to the US before age 16, have lived here for 
          at least five years, and are either in school, are high school 
          graduates, or are military veterans in good standing.  The 
          immigrants must also not be older than 30 and have clean 
          criminal records.  Those who qualify will be eligible to receive 
          deferred action for two years, subject to renewal.

           This bill  allows a rental company to verify a renter's identity 
          by comparison of the driver's license photograph to the driver 
          renting the vehicle, instead of comparison of the renter's 
          signature to the signature on the license.  Additionally, this 
          bill creates an exemption from the verification requirement for 
          a rental company that is located remotely, such as a car-sharing 
          business. 

          Finally, this bill clarifies that a person whose presence in the 
          United States is authorized by federal law, but who is 
          ineligible for a social security number, is eligible to obtain a 
          driver's license in California.  Further, this bill specifies 
          that a person providing documentation demonstrating acceptance 
          into the federal deferred action for childhood arrivals program 
          meets the requirement of legal presence verification and is 
          eligible to obtain a driver's license in California.  
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  According to proponents, this bill modernizes 
            existing law requirements for verifying that a person seeking 




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            to rent a car is properly licensed and keeps California 
            current with advances in technology by allowing rental car 
            companies to utilize innovative car rental business models. 

            In addition, according to the author, there are approximately 
            450,000 undocumented immigrants who might meet the 
            requirements of the federal deferred action directive either 
            now or in the near future.  The author notes that, now that 
            the federal government has authorized the presence of these 
            individuals in this country, qualifying immigrants should be 
            eligible to receive a driver's license.  This bill ensures 
            that those individuals who qualify for the deferred action can 
            obtain driver's licenses.

           2.Background  .  This bill was amended on August 24, 2012, on the 
            Senate floor to include the language involving the eligibility 
            of driver's license applicants.  Prior hearings and related 
            votes involved only the rental car provisions of this bill.  
            This committee will be the first to vote on the bill with the 
            driver's license eligibility provisions.

           3.Are the eligibility provisions necessary  ?  Existing law 
            enables DMV to adopt regulations and procedures for verifying 
            that a driver's license applicant's presence in the US is 
            authorized under federal law.  According to the DMV, it 
            accepts a number of federal documents to verify an applicant's 
            legal presence in the country, and DMV does not indicate that 
            the new deferred action for childhood arrivals program should 
            pose any additional challenges to the verification process.  
            In light of this, it is unclear that the eligibility 
            provisions of this bill are necessary to implement the new 
            federal changes.

           4.Concurrence hearing  .  This bill was referred to the committee 
            under Senate Rule 29.10 in order for the committee to review 
            the new subject matter of this bill.  On a concurrence hearing 
            such as this, the committee may only take one of two actions:  
            1) hold the bill; or 2) return the bill to the Senate Floor 
            for concurrence in Assembly amendments.  

          Vote History:
               Senate Judiciary:                 5 - 0 
               Assembly Floor:                   76 - 0 
               Assembly Trans:                   13 - 0 

          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on 




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          Monday, August 27, 2012 )

               SUPPORT:  None received.
          
               OPPOSED:  None received.