BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 60 (Alejo) - Driver's license eligibility: required
documentation.
Amended: July 8, 2013 Policy Vote: T&H 8-2
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 30, 2013
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Bill Summary: AB 60 would authorize the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to issue a driver's license, other than a
commercial driver's license, to an applicant who provides four
specified documents that establish proof of identity, rather
than providing a social security number (SSN) or other proof of
legal presence in the United States.
Fiscal Impact:
Estimated DMV costs of approximately $140 million to $220
million over three years to issue approximately 1.4 million
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).
Background: Current law requires every applicant for an original
driver's license or identification card to submit satisfactory
proof that the person has legal presence status under federal
law. The California Code of Regulations specifies over 30
documents that may be submitted as satisfactory proof of legal
presence status, such as a birth certificate or approved
immigration documents. Applications for the issuance or renewal
of a driver's license or ID card must contain a section for the
applicant's social security number. DMV is prohibited from
accepting an application without a verified SSN unless the
application was submitted with documents establishing legal
presence and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) verifies
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that the person is in the country legally, but not authorized to
work. It a misdemeanor for any person to assist knowingly in
obtaining a driver's license or identification card for any
person whose presence in the United States is not authorized
under federal law. DMV charges an application fee of $32 for a
standard Class C driver's license.
Proposed Law: AB 60 would authorize DMV, beginning January 1,
2015, to issue a driver's license to an applicant that provides
specified documentation in lieu of a SSN or proof of legal
presence in the United States. Specifically, this bill would:
Authorize an applicant to provide all of the following,
instead of a SSN or proof of legal presence:
o A valid passport or consular identification
document issued by the applicant's home country.
o An original birth certificate or other proof
of age designated by DMV.
o A residential utility bill, lease or rental
agreement, or other proof of California residency, as
designated by DMV.
o Any one of the following documents,
accompanied by an English translation if necessary: a
marriage license or divorce certificate; a specified
foreign electoral photo card; a foreign driver's
license; DHS Forms I-589, I-20, or DS-2019; specified
education records; a property deed or title; a recent
property tax statement; an income tax return; or other
proof of identity, as designated by DMV.
Require all applications for a driver's license or
identification card to include, in addition to space for a
SSN, a space for a number associated with any document that
established the identity of the applicant, as determined by
DMV.
Specify that an applicant for a commercial driver's
licenses must provide a SSN.
The bill would also delete the following provisions, effective
January 1, 2015 that:
Prohibit DMV from issuing a driver's license to an
applicant who cannot provide proof of legal presence in the
US.
Allow DMV to issue a driver's license to an applicant
from another country who can establish legal presence as
approved by the federal government.
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Require DMV to issue a temporary driver's license to a
legal nonimmigrant if he or she has successfully completed
the application and related requirements but the US
Immigration and Naturalization Service has not yet verified
the applicant's legal presence status.
Make it a misdemeanor for an individual to assist
knowingly in obtaining a driver's license or identification
card for an individual who is unable to establish legal
presence.
Staff Comments: DMV currently issues approximately 900,000
original driver's licenses each year. AB 60 is expected to
encourage many of the estimated 2 million undocumented
immigrants of driving age in California to apply for a driver's
license. This bill would have a significant impact on DMV
operations and service levels in field offices statewide. DMV
anticipates a processing volume of approximately 1.4 million
additional applicants over a three-year period, beginning in
2015 as a result of the bill. DMV estimates costs to process
new undocumented immigrant applications to be in the range of
$140 million to $220 million over three years, with offsetting
driver's license application fee revenue gains of approximately
$50 million. Total costs include additional facilities
requirements, additional field staffing, extended Saturday field
office service, outreach activities, phone centers,
investigations, human resources, training, and headquarter
processing. The disparity in the range of costs is based upon
two distinct implementation approaches. The estimated costs
would also depend upon the actual volume of applicants and how
well the impacts are tolerated.
DMV estimates up-front costs in the range of $20 million to $60
million (depending on the chosen approach) for new temporary
facilities to handle the increased volume of customers,
significant computer programming costs in the low millions, and
approximately $100 million to hire and train new staff to handle
the increased workload, all of which must be in place prior to
implementation and cannot be financed with application fees.
DMV would require a multi-million dollar appropriation in the
2014-15 budget year to implement this bill. According to the
Governor's budget documents, the Motor Vehicle Account is
projected to have a reserve of approximately $237 million at the
end of the 2013-14 budget year. The expenditures envisioned by
this bill would have a significant impact on overall condition
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of the Motor Vehicle Account.
Congress enacted and the President signed H.R. 1268-"Real ID Act
of 2005" on May 11, 2005, which is designed to improve the
security of driver's licenses and identification cards issued by
the individual states. The Act includes certain minimum
document and license issuance requirements, and it provides that
only persons with legal presence status can be issued a driver's
license or identification card (DL/ID). A state, however, is
permitted to issue a license or identification card to an
undocumented immigrant, providing the license meets certain
appearance requirements and clearly states that it cannot be
used for any other official purpose. A driver's license issued
by a state that is not compliant with the Act will not be
recognized for federal identification purposes, such as entering
a federal building or boarding a plane. To date, the Department
of Homeland Security has determined that only 13 states meet
REAL ID Act standards, and California is not among them.
Enforcement of the Act has been deferred several times, and DHS
is contemplating continued deferments for states that are making
efforts to attain REAL ID compliance. Staff notes that the
author of AB 60 has indicated that the bill may be amended to
address issues related to the REAL ID Act. Such amendments
would likely have impact on the fiscal estimates noted above.
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS would exclude identification cards from the
bill's provisions. As a result, applicants for an
identification card would be required to provide a social
security number or other proof of legal presence in the United
States, pursuant to existing law.