Driver’s licenses for all — off the table for now
Friday, March 19, 2010 at 11:41 am
- 11 Comments
Photo: Jon Collins
Despite an audience sprinkled with supporters, a bill that would have made it possible for undocumented immigrants to receive driver’s licenses was tabled in the state House Thursday.
The House author, Rep. Karen Clark, DFL-Minneapolis, said she chose not to advance the bill because it already stalled in the Senate, but that she still wanted to hold an informational hearing to prepare members to hear it again in the future.
“The issue I would ask you to consider is this is really a public safety issue,” Clark told the committee members.
When New Mexico put a similar plan into place, Clark said, the rates of uninsured drivers dropped from 33 percent to 11 percent.
A statement released by the sponsoring group, Mujeres en Liderazgo (Women in Leadership), said the hearings were an important step in eventually passing the legislation, estimating that 70 supporters turned out at the Capitol for the hearings.
The bill faced a likely veto by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has opposed similar legislation in the past.
“This year was really about getting the word out, gaining some allies in the campaign, and we did we had some senators and representatives stand up with us,” Kate Percuco, a supporter of the group, told the Minnesota Independent.
The activists said they’ll resume the push for it next year when there’s a new governor.
The bill would have allowed some foreign identity cards to be used as proof of identity. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Driver and Vehicle Services would have decided which foreign identification cards met security and technological standards, which would have cost the state general fund around $25,0000 in 2011.
The bill also would have eliminated a state rule that requires applicants to provide proof of residency.
Although this particular hearing was tranquil, it’s a bill that attracted criticism in earlier hearings and from some members of the public, including a punctuation-drenched email circulated by anti-immigration activists.
Percuco said it was important that conservatives saw this issue as separate from the immigration debate.
“This bill is about giving licenses to people living and working in our communities, that’s it,” Percuco said. “We all we want insured and licensed drivers on our streets, rather we want immigration reform or not.”
Clark said she’d made progress working with some members, including Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville.
Holberg said she better understood the issues involved in the bill and offered the suggestion that a separate category of driver’s license would gain more support.
Percuco said that the creation of a separate driver’s license wouldn’t satisfy Mujeres en Liderazgo members.
“We want a driver’s license that’s equal and the same as everyone else’s,” Percuco said. “We don’t want second-class licenses.”
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Comment posted March 19, 2010 @ 12:28 pm
Congratulations to the Mujeres on a well run campaign, we’ll be rooting for you next year once Pawlenty’s out of office!
Comment posted March 19, 2010 @ 4:00 pm
Tis is absolutely nuts. What does it matter if someone is a citizen or not? They are a human being in our state and need to be treated with respect and under the same rules as all of us who are citizens.
Thankfully, our President also sees it this way and as soon as the Health Care legislation is passed, this is going to be addressed at the Federal level. That way states with ignorant Governors like ours will not get in the way of doing good for mankind.
We all should laugh in the face of T-Paw as soon as the legalization legislation is passed.
Comment posted March 19, 2010 @ 9:31 pm
All undocumented immigrants are people too, and as such deserve a bus ride to the border and a gentle foot in the backside.
Comment posted March 20, 2010 @ 1:07 am
Wow. Is there a separate bill to formally announce the completion of the North American Union?
Comment posted March 21, 2010 @ 10:41 am
Thats being too nice Jim. Get legal documentation, pay taxes(if you have a job or own property),prove residency, then learn how to read and speak english, pass the drivers exam with no special help, then you may be able to get a drivers licence. Just like everyone else. Or just go home.
Comment posted March 22, 2010 @ 12:03 am
I said they deserve a bus ride, but I’d rather they continue living outside the law, picking vegatables for fifty cents an hour. That’s nature’s response to the idiocy known as the minimum wage. That and the Chinese sweatshop.
Comment posted March 22, 2010 @ 10:49 pm
Is it not required to prove residency when obtaining a DL? How would an illegal do this? They refuse to even prove identity. Cheat on paying taxes by claiming max allowances. Drive no doubt without Auto Insurance. Need more?
Comment posted March 22, 2010 @ 10:51 pm
Jimmy unfortunately your way off base. Illegals are taking construction jobs nation wide, they are taking most cooking jobs at fast food, they are taking many many of the few manufacturing jobs left in this country. Feild picking is no longer their nitche.
Comment posted March 23, 2010 @ 11:08 am
I find it humorous that Percuco said she doesn’t want a different license for these people. If the issue is really that they will then get insurance and be registered, which will be better for us all, then what is wrong with a different license? What is wrong is that the whole thing is ridiculous to begin with. They are here illegally. They should go through the appropriate steps or get deported…Or change the immigration process. But no goveernment issued ID without going through the process legally.
Comment posted March 24, 2010 @ 6:57 am
They are immigration lawbreakers, trespassers – and they have the nerve to ask for the privileges of citizen? A license and a utility bill will allow the illegals to vote. This would open Minnesota elections to massive voter fraud.
Anyone check the immigration status of Mujeres en Liderazgo, and who is funding the group?
Comment posted March 31, 2010 @ 9:39 am
I think that this is a great idea. When the undocumented people sign up for their driver’s license, if they can’t provide proof of citizenship, sned them on a one way ride back home!!
If this does pass, I wonder if those who oppose photo id to vote will now be in favor??
Just a thought.
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