The nice thing about the Legislature being gone the first Friday of the session is the time it gives reporters to sift through everything that has been introduced so far. As usual, I see a combination of serious measures, and the wacky stuff that somehow gets into the bill hopper. (See my previous post on the state necklace bill.)
Because it was a big topic during the gubernatorial campaign, I wanted to see the legislation that would change the state's policy of allowing immigrants to get drivers licenses. To date, I know of two bills that would change the current law. This one by Rep. Andy Nunez would require a Social Security number to get a license, while another one would give immigrants with the licenses five months to turn them in and get a driving permit. The permit would only be good for driving and would not be accepted as a form of identification, as it is now.
Although she made it a big campaign issue, Gov. Susana Martinez has yet to say which measure she is backing. Expect several others to be introduced as well.
I like the permit idea better; all we need is to have more exposure of our SSN's, and the MVD is a sieve for personal information leakage.
ReplyDeleteI wondered how Utah did it, since they have a driver credential for undocument workers. They have a Driving Privilege card for those who don't have a Social Security Number but do have an ITIN. It's not supposed to be used for ID for any Utah government entities. Read about it here: http://publicsafety.utah.gov/dld/drivingprivilegecard.html
ReplyDeleteBy the way, documented immigrants get valid Social Security numbers and pay into SS. And both groups pay all other taxes -- they just can't vote.