BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 60
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 60 (Alejo)
As Amended May 24, 2013
Majority vote
TRANSPORTATION 11-4 APPROPRIATIONS 12-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Ayes:|Lowenthal, Ammiano, |Ayes:|Gatto, Bocanegra, |
| |Blumenfield, Bonta, | |Bradford, |
| |Buchanan, Daly, Frazier, | |Ian Calderon, Campos, |
| |Gatto, Holden, Nazarian, | |Eggman, Gomez, Hall, |
| |Quirk-Silva | |Ammiano, Pan, Quirk, |
| | | |Weber |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Linder, Logue, Morrell, |Nays:|Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Patterson | |Donnelly, Linder, Wagner |
| | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY : Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to
issue driver's licenses to persons who are ineligible for a
Social Security Number (SSN) if additional documentation is
provided, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes legislative findings and declarations regarding the
safety risk posed by unlicensed drivers.
2)Provides that in lieu of providing a SSN, applicants for a
driver's license or identification card must provide all of
the following documentation:
a) A valid consular identification document issued by a
Consulate from the applicant's country of citizenship, or a
valid, unexpired passport from the applicant's country of
citizenship;
b) An original birth certificate or other proof of age as
designated by DMV;
c) A residential utility bill, lease or rental agreement,
or other proof of California residence as designated by
DMV; and,
AB 60
Page 2
d) One of the of the following documents, certified in
English translation or affidavit of translation if provided
in a language other than English:
i) Marriage or divorce license or certificate;
ii) Foreign federal electoral photo card issued in 1991
or thereafter;
iii) Foreign driver's license;
iv) Federally issued application for asylum and
withholding of removal;
v) Official school or college transcript with date of
birth or foreign school record with a seal and photo at
the age when issued;
vi) Federally issued Certificate of Eligibility for
foreign exchange students;
vii) Filed property deed or title;
viii) Property tax bill or statement issued in the last 12
months;
ix) Income tax return; or,
x) Other proof of California residence as designated by
DMV.
3)Specifies that documents used to establish proof of identity
are not public documents and prohibits DMV from disclosing
these documents for any purpose.
4)Sunsets provisions that prohibit DMV from issuing a driver's
license to anyone who cannot establish legal presence on
January 1, 2015.
5)Sunsets provisions that allow DMV to issue a driver's license
to persons from another country that can establish legal
presence as approved by the federal government on January 1,
2015.
AB 60
Page 3
6)Sunsets provisions that allow DMV to issue temporary driver's
licenses to applicants pending verification of legal presence
on January 1, 2015.
7)Sunsets provisions that make it a misdemeanor for a person to
knowingly assist in obtaining a driver's license or
identification card for a person who is unable to establish
legal presence on January 1, 2015.
8)Defers the operative date until January 1, 2015.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires applicants for driver's licenses and identification
cards to provide their SSN and proof of legal presence to DMV.
2)Requires DMV to verify the legal presence of driver's license
applicants. Pending that verification, the DMV may issue a
temporary license.
3)Authorizes DMV to accept over 30 forms of documentation to
prove legal presence including a Canadian passport or a
foreign passport that is evaluated and approved by the United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for
purposes of establishing lawful presence.
4)Makes it a misdemeanor for a person to knowingly assist in
obtaining a driver's license or identification card for a
person who is unable to establish legal presence.
5)At the federal level, requires an applicant for a driver's
license to provide verifiable proof of identity, date of
birth, legal status, SSN, and address of principal residence.
6)Allows persons who are granted deferred action by the USCIS to
be eligible to receive employment authorization for the period
of deferred action.
7)Allows persons who are granted deferred action and employment
authorization by USCIS to apply and obtain a SSN.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
AB 60
Page 4
Committee, DMV estimates the bill would make roughly two million
undocumented immigrants immediately eligible for a drivers
license (DL) or identification (ID). The DMV currently
processes approximately 1.5 million DL and IDs annually. The
influx of so many new applicants could have a profound impact on
the DMV's operation and will likely cost tens of millions of
dollars related to additional staffing, facilities (possibly
temporary), training, drafting of regulations, and programming.
Cost will be partially offset by license fees. The DMV
indicates it has begun a thorough evaluation of this bill's
requirements and is examining several different strategies to
meet these requirements in the most cost-effective manner.
COMMENTS : The issue of allowing the licensure of undocumented
immigrants has been considered almost continually by the
Legislature since the 1999-2000 Legislative Session. Overall,
almost every proposal has died, been vetoed, or in one instance,
been enacted but subsequently repealed before its
implementation. The debate surrounding this issue is
traditionally cast as trying to assure all motorists, whether
citizens or not, are trained, tested, and insured versus the
notion that licensing noncitizens will reward law breaking
activity and encourage illegal immigration.
This bill attempts to introduce an alternative solution to the
address this public policy issue. By using a model somewhat
similar to the State of Washington, a person unable to provide a
SSN will have the option to submit several alternative forms of
documentation to show proof of identity and obtain a driver's
license.
Currently three states allow persons unable to prove legal
presence to drive legally. The State of Utah administers a
two-tier system through the issuance of "driver privilege
cards," which can be used for driving purposes only and cannot
be used as proof of identity. Washington and New Mexico allow
undocumented individuals to use a consular identification card
and foreign passports as valid forms of documentation to show
proof of identity. Additionally, both of these states require
the applicant to submit several other forms of documentation in
order reaffirm identity and prove residency prior to receiving a
driver's license.
Similar to Washington and New Mexico, this bill will allow DMV
AB 60
Page 5
to accept a consular identification card or any unexpired
foreign passport, regardless of a person's legal status, as a
form of documentation to establish proof of identity. In order
to obtain one of the abovementioned documents, a person is, in
fact, required to provide several forms of documentation to
establish proof of identity such as an original birth
certificate from the country of origin and proof of residence.
Moreover, this bill takes an additional step in attempt to
provide additional protections by requiring an applicant to
provide DMV with several alternative forms of documentation to
establish proof of identity.
When considering the merits of this bill, it is also important
to note the recently related actions taken by the federal
government. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is
currently in the process of evaluating the progress of states'
efforts in meeting Real ID Act compliance. The Real ID Act
intended to improve the security of state issued driver's
licenses and identification cards and includes certain document
and license issuance requirements including: enhanced security
features on the driver's license or identification card,
requiring SSN and date of birth documentation be presented, and
providing evidence of lawful status. Non-compliant states will
not be recognized for federal identification purposes such as
entering a federal building or boarding an airplane. Overall
enforcement of the Real ID Act has been deferred several times
with DHS now considering granting deferments for states that are
making efforts to attain Real ID compliance.
Additionally, on June 15, 2012, the Secretary of DHS announced
that certain people who have come to the United States as
children and meet specific requirements may request
consideration of deferred action for a period of two years.
Under the deferred action program, approved applicants will be
granted deferred removal action which may stop pending
deportation proceedings or preclude the federal government from
starting deportation proceedings against them. Moreover,
deferred action grantees are also eligible to apply and receive
employment authorization for the period of deferred action.
Upon receiving a federally issued employment authorization card,
an individual may apply (with additional documentation proving
age and identity) for a SSN.
In the previous legislative session, AB 2189 (Cedillo), Chapter
AB 60
Page 6
862, Statutes of 2012, ultimately brought state law into
conformity with the federal deferred action program. Thus,
deferred action grantees residing in California now have pathway
to apply for a driver's license once establishing lawful
presence. Overall, it is important to note that the ongoing
policy changes by the federal government make it is unclear as
to how the provisions specified in this bill will align with
future federal actions.
Analysis Prepared by : Manny Leon / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093
FN: 0000984