BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  SB 1 x3
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   December 1, 2003

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                              Darrell Steinberg, Chair

                  SB 1 x3 (Oller) - As Amended:  November 24, 2003 

          Policy Committee:                               
          TransportationVote:15-0

          Urgency:     Yes                  State Mandated Local Program:  
          No     Reimbursable:               

           SUMMARY  

          This bill repeals the provisions of SB 60 (Cedillo) - Chapter  
          326, Statutes of 2003, a measure that, effective January 1,  
          2004, repeals the requirement that applicants for original  
          driver's licenses and ID cards submit proof of their legal  
          presence in the United States and requires the DMV to accept a  
          federal individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or  
          other identifier deemed appropriate by the department, in lieu  
          of the applicant's social security account number (SSAN).

           FISCAL EFFECT  

          1)Substantial potential cost avoidance, about $34 million in FY  
            2003-04, $28 million in        FY 2004-05 and $12 million  
            annually thereafter, to the DMV from not having to process a  
            projected two million additional applications for original  
            driver's licenses and 500,000 additional applications for ID  
            cards. (Motor Vehicle Account.)

          2)Moderate cost avoidance, in the range of $250,000 primarily in  
            FY 2004-05, to the Department of Justice (DOJ) by not having  
            to study aspects related to developing a biometrics system  
            designed to ensure applicants for a driver's license or an ID  
            card don't already have one or the other.  (GF) 

           SUMMARY CONTINUED
           
          Specifically, this bill, an urgency measure that becomes  
          operative January 1, 2004,  repeals      SB 60, the provisions  
          of which do the following:









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          1)Repeal the requirement that applicants for original driver's  
            licenses and ID cards submit proof of their legal presence in  
            the United States.

          2)Require the DMV to accept a federal ITIN, or other identifier  
            deemed appropriate by the department, in lieu of the  
            applicant's SSAN.

          3)Require original or renewal driver's license applicants to  
            provide documentation that they reside in California and  
            require applicants for original driver's licenses or ID cards  
            to present an ID document, acceptable to the DMV, for purpose  
            of establishing their identity.

          4)Require any applicant presenting an ITIN (instead of an SSAN)  
            to the DMV to also present a birth certificate issued by a  
            foreign jurisdiction, plus other documentation such as a  
            Mexican matricula consular, a foreign passport, or a foreign  
            driver's license.

          5)Require the DOJ, in consultation with the DMV and other  
            interested parties, to study the cost, feasibility,  
            technological capacity, and privacy implications of developing  
            a biometric system to protect the integrity of driver's  
            licenses and ID cards.

           COMMENTS  

           1)Rationale  .  The author believes an individual should be  
            required to show proof that he or she is legally residing in  
            the United States before an application for an original  
            driver's license or ID card can be accepted by the DMV.  In  
            addition, the author argues that an individual applying for a  
            driver's license or ID card should continue to have to produce  
            his or her SSAN as an appropriate identifier.  SB 60 will,  
            among other things, repeal both of these current requirements  
            effective January 1, 2004.  This bill would become operative  
            on that same date, thus superseding the operation of SB 60.
           
             Senator Cedillo, the author of SB 60 and the principal  
            coauthor of this bill, requests passage of SB 1 (3x) in order  
            to reinitiate policy discussions regarding driver licensing  
            for undocumented immigrants.  Governor Schwarzenegger has  
            expressed an interest in such discussions in 2004, but only if  
            the provisions of SB 60 are repealed.








                                                                  SB 1 x3
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          2)SB 60 Rationale  .   The author and supporters of SB 60 argue  
            that repeal and modification of the DMV documentation  
            requirements would result in potentially substantial  
            improvements in public safety on California highways and would  
            lower barriers to participation in the California economy for  
            those persons who have not obtained a driver's license or ID  
            card due to the SSAN requirement.  The author of SB 60 argues  
            that many persons who avoid the application process still  
            drive motor vehicles and do so without any form of insurance  
            because lack of an SSAN also precludes them from being  
            insured.  In addition, they drive on the highways without  
            benefit of any formal education or training regarding  
            California vehicle laws.  The author of SB 60 believes that  
            the benefits of eliminating the SSAN requirement for driver's  
            licenses and ID cards far outweigh the potential costs of some  
            persons, not legally in this country, obtaining public  
            services.
           
          1)Prior Legislation  .  SB 60 is similar to AB 60 (Cedillo) of  
            2002 and AB 1463 (Cedillo) of 2000, both vetoed by the  
            governor.  In his veto message for AB 60, the governor stated  
            he had "agreed to sign AB 60 if its companion measure, SB 804  
            [Polanco], provided adequate assurance that an applicant lived  
            and worked in California for fifteen months over the last  
            three years and passed a background check that provided  
            [several] protections?It is regrettable that the provisions of  
            SB 804 fall short of meeting these requirements, making it  
            impossible for me to sign either bill into law."

           2)DMV Fee Increases  .  As part of the 2003 budget agreement,  
            several DMV-administered fees were increased to generate an  
            additional $161 million to the MVA in the budget year and $330  
            million annually thereafter.   This bill avoids costs that  
            would have consumed a substantial portion of this additional  
            MVA revenue.  Since the DMV never obtained the authority to  
            hire additional staff and never received an appropriation of  
            MVA funds to pay for the additional staff and resources needed  
            to implement SB 60 in the current budget year, committee staff  
            assumes only about half those initial costs would have been  
            incurred in the current budget year, with the other half  
            incurred in FY 2004-05, with ongoing annual costs starting in  
            FY 2005-06.

           3)History  .  SB 976 (Alquist) - Chapter 820, Statutes of 1993  








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                                                                  Page  4

            required all applicants for an original driver's license to  
            document the applicant's legal presence in the United States.   
            The requirement is designed to make the driver's license a  
            more secure form of identification with the intent of  
            preventing undocumented immigrants from being licensed or  
            obtaining ID cards.  SB 976's sponsors claimed that the  
            driver's license is a "breeder document" that is used to  
            acquire other documentation and serves as the most widely  
            accepted identification to qualify for both private and public  
            sector services and programs.

           4)Referendum  .  An ballot initiative to overturn SB 60 is  
            currently circulating for petition signatures.  Initiative  
            supporters, in order to qualify for the March 2004 statewide  
            ballot, must obtain at least 373,816 signatures by the  
            December 7, 2003 deadline.  If the initiative qualifies for  
            the ballot before January 1, 2004, it would prevent  
            implementation of SB 60 unless and until the ballot  
            proposition is approved by a majority of statewide voters.  If  
            this urgency bill is enacted, the referendum would be rendered  
            moot.  Initiative supporters have committed to not submitting  
            their signatures if this urgency bill is enacted by December  
            5, 2003.

           5)Other Legislation  .  AB 1 (Benoit), introduced November 18, is  
            identical to this bill.


           

           

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Steve Archibald / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081