BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 60| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 60 Author: Alejo (D), et al. Amended: 9/12/13 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE : 8-2, 7/2/13 AYES: DeSaulnier, Beall, Cannella, Galgiani, Hueso, Lara, Liu, Roth NOES: Gaines, Wyland NO VOTE RECORDED: Pavley SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/30/13 AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg NOES: Walters, Gaines ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-20, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Driver's licenses: eligibility: required documentation SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill authorizes the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue an original driver's license to a person who is unable to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law if he/she meets all other qualifications for licensure and provides satisfactory proof to DMV, of his/her identity and California residency. CONTINUED AB 60 Page 2 ANALYSIS : Existing law generally requires all drivers to hold a California driver's license in order to drive in this state, with limited exceptions such as operation of farm machinery and off-road highway vehicles. Existing law allows an individual who holds a valid driver's license from another state or country to drive in California as long as that license remains valid. If an individual becomes a California resident, he/she must obtain a California driver's license within 10 days. Existing law establishes a provisional driver's license program for individuals between 16 and 18 years of age with specified requirements. An individual 18 years or older may apply for an original driver's license by completing an application, giving a thumbprint, having a picture taken, providing a social security number, providing verification of birth date and legal presence, paying an application fee, passing an eye exam, and passing a traffic laws and sign test. DMV may issue a permit once the individual completes these requirements. A permit holder must be accompanied by another individual 18 years or older when practicing driving. A permit holder may schedule a driving test at DMV at any time after obtaining a permit. Upon passing the driving test, a permit holder receives his/her driver's license. This bill: 1.Provides a driver's license applicant who is unable to provide satisfactory proof that his/her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law may sign an affidavit attesting that he/she is both ineligible for a social security account number and unable to submit satisfactory proof that his/her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, and provides this affidavit is not a public record and shall be accepted by the DMV in lieu of a social security account number. Prohibits this information from being used to consider an individual's citizenship or immigration status as a basis for a criminal investigation, arrest or detention. 2.Requires DMV to issue an original driver's license to a person who is unable to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law if he/she meets all other qualifications for CONTINUED AB 60 Page 3 licensure and provides satisfactory proof to the department of his/her identity and California residency. 3.Requires DMV adopt emergency regulations to carry out this bill including, but not limited to, procedures for (1) identifying documents acceptable for the purposes of proving identity and California residency, (2) procedures for verifying the authenticity of the documents, (3) issuance of a temporary license pending verification of the document's authenticity, and (4) hearings to appeal a denial of a license or temporary license. Requires, for purposes of adopting the emergency regulations, DMV consult with appropriate interested parties in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act, including law enforcement, immigrant rights and labor representatives, and other stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the California Highway Patrol, the California State Sheriffs' Association, and the California Police Chiefs Association. 4.Requires DMV to accept the following types of documentation for purposes of establishing identity and California residency: A. A valid consular identification document issued by a consulate from the applicant's country of citizenship, or a valid 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 D. The following documents, which, if in a language other than English, shall be accompanied by a certified translation or an affidavit of translation into English: (1) A marriage license or divorce certificate; (2) A foreign federal electoral photo card issued on or after January 1, 1991; (3) A foreign driver's license; CONTINUED AB 60 Page 4 A. A federally issued application for asylum and withholding of removal; B. An official school or college transcript that includes the applicant's date of birth or a sealed foreign school record that includes a photograph of the applicant at the age the record was issued; C. A federally issued certificate of eligibility for foreign exchange students; D. A property deed or title; E. A property tax bill or statement issued within the previous 12 months; or F. An income tax return. 1.Requires a license or temporary license issued pursuant to this bill include a recognizable feature on the front of the card, such as the letters "DP" instead of, and in the same font size as the "DL," with no other distinguishable feature and shall bear the following notice: "This card is not acceptable for official federal purposes. This license is issued only as a license to drive a motor vehicle. It is acceptable for driving privileges only. It does not establish eligibility for employment, voter registration, or public benefits." 2.Requires, if the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) determines a license issued pursuant to this bill does not satisfy the requirements of the Real ID Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-13), the DMV modify the license only to the extent necessary to satisfy the requirements of that law. 3.Prohibits a peace officer from detaining or arresting a person solely on the belief that the person is an unlicensed driver, unless the officer has reasonable cause to believe the person driving is less than 16 years of age. 4.Provides the inability to obtain a driver's license pursuant to this bill does not abrogate or diminish in any respect the CONTINUED AB 60 Page 5 legal requirement of every driver in this state to obey the motor vehicle laws of this state, including laws with respect to licensing, motor vehicle registration, and financial responsibility. 5.Provides it is a violation of the Unruh Civil Rights Act to discriminate against an individual because he/she holds or presents a license issued under this bill. 6.Prohibits a license issued pursuant to this bill from being used to consider an individual's citizenship or immigration status as a basis for a criminal investigation, arrest, or detention. 7.Requires, on or before January 1, 2018, the California Research Bureau compile and submit to the Legislature and the Governor a report of any violations related to items 9 and 10 above. Prohibits information pertaining to any specific individual from being provided in the report. 8.Specifies a person applying for an original license pursuant to this bill may be required to pay an additional fee determined by the DMV that is sufficient to offset the reasonable administrative costs of implementing the provisions of this bill. If this additional fee is assessed, it shall only apply until June 30, 2017. 9.Authorizes, if the director of DMV determines that the DMV is prepared to begin issuing driver's licenses on a date sooner than January 1, 2015, the director shall execute a declaration stating that determination and date and, within five business days, provide a copy of that declaration to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature and to the Governor, and shall post this information on its Internet Web site. 10.Provides most provisions of this bill become effective January 1, 2015, or the date the director issues the declaration above. Provides a contingency sunset date effective on the date of a final judicial determination made by any court or appellate jurisdiction that any provision of the bill, either in part or whole, if found unconstitutional. 11.Specifies this bill does not apply to applications for a CONTINUED AB 60 Page 6 commercial driver's license. Background REAL ID Act . The federal REAL ID Act of 2005 enacts the 9/11 Commission's recommendation to establish federal standards for issuing driver's licenses and other sources of identification. It establishes minimum standards including enhanced security features on the driver's license or identification card and a requirement for applicants to provide their social security number, birth certificate, and proof of legal presence in the United States. The REAL ID Act prohibits federal agencies from accepting documents for official purposes (e.g., boarding an airplane or entering a federal building) unless DHS has determined that the state meets the minimum standards. To date, DHS has determined that 13 states - not including California - meet REAL ID standards. DHS has granted the remaining states a deferment. This bill does not comply with the REAL ID Act. Federal developments . In June 2012, DHS issued a directive allowing certain individuals who came to the US as children and who meet several key criteria to request consideration of deferred action (e.g., deferral of deportation) for two years, subject to renewal; these individuals then become eligible for work authorization. Upon receiving a federal work authorization card, an individual may apply for a social security number, as long as he/she can provide additional documentation proving age and identity. AB 2189 (Cedillo, Chapter 862, Statutes of 2012), brought California into conformity with the federal deferred action program. Thus, deferred action grantees in California now have a pathway to apply for a driver's license once they have established legal presence. Congress is currently debating whether and how to reform the U.S. immigration system. It is unclear how the outcome of this debate might affect REAL ID implementation, the deferred action program, and federal driver's license regulations. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Estimated DMV costs of approximately $140 million to $220 million over three years to issue approximately 1.4 million CONTINUED AB 60 Page 7 new driver's licenses (Motor Vehicle Account). Most of these costs are for new temporary facilities, additional staff, and increased processing time in field offices throughout the state. Estimated driver's license application fee revenues of approximately $50 million over three years (Motor Vehicle Account). SUPPORT : (Verified 9/11/13) AFSCME California Catholic Conference California Farm Labor Contractor Association California Grape and Tree Fruit League California Immigrant Policy Center California Labor Foundation California Primary Care Association California State Grange Cities of Berkeley, Lathrop, Los Angeles and Pomona Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Council of Mexican Federations Department of Insurance Farmers Insurance Friends Committee on Legislation of California Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Coalition Justice for Immigrants Coalition of Southern California- San Bernardino Latina(o) Roundtable of Pomona and San Gabriel Valley Latino Coalition for a Healthy California Latino Democratic Club, Sacramento Monterey County Supervisors National Council of La Raza Personal Insurance Federation of California PICO California Pomona Economic Opportunity Center Pomona Habla Community Coalition Pueblo de Fe United for Workers Justice-Inland Valleys Warehouse Workers United- Ontario OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/11/13) Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality California Labor Federation CONTINUED AB 60 Page 8 California Nurses Association California Professional Firefighters California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation California Teamsters Public Affairs Council MALDEF SEIU United Farm Workers UnlicensedToKill.org ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The author points to a DMV study published in September 2012 that found that compared to licensed drivers, suspended or revoked and unlicensed drivers are nearly three times more likely to cause a fatal crash. The study notes that "it is likely that the percentage of drivers in the unlicensed group who are ineligible for a license increased following enactment of California Senate Bill 976 on January 1, 1994." SB 976 (Alquist, Chapter 820, Statutes of 1994) requires driver's license applicants to provide proof of legal presence in the U.S. in order to obtain a license. The author notes that approximately one in five fatal crashes in the U.S. involves an unlicensed or invalidly licensed driver. The author states that this bill will improve traffic safety as it will ensure that drivers on roads are properly trained, pass the driving test, pass a background check, know our state driving laws, and become insured. ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : UnlicensedToKill.org notes that the only recommendation DMV makes in the study cited by the author is to impound the cars of unlicensed drivers to get them off the road, not to issue licenses to them. The organization states that after New Mexico began issuing driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants in 2003, traffic fatalities increased significantly, despite falling in other states during the same period. The organization argues that licensing undocumented immigrants will not make them safer drivers and will not guarantee that they obtain insurance. Other opponents state, "We strongly support driver's licenses for all motorists to ensure that all drivers are licensed, safe, and insured. Unfortunately, AB 60 stops far short of that goal. Distinguishing marks on licenses that single out undocumented community members would make people vulnerable to discriminatory treatment on and off the road, and could easily lead to detention or deportation of hard working Californians. A CONTINUED AB 60 Page 9 "scarlet letter" type marking on licenses, coupled with a prohibition against the use of the driver's license as identification will negatively impact community members. California can and should do better!" ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 55-20, 5/29/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Allen, Bigelow, Conway, Dahle, Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk NO VOTE RECORDED: Chávez, Holden, Nestande, Olsen, Vacancy JA:ej 9/11/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED