NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2477
SPONSOR: Sepulveda (MS) TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to authorizing the department of motor vehicles to issue limit-
ed purpose drivers' licenses
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To improve public safety and expand economic opportunity by allowing
individuals who cannot provide documentation necessary to obtain stand-
ard or enhanced driver's license the chance to earn a limited purpose
driver's license.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds section 503-A to vehicle and traffic law, providing for
the creation and implementation of Limited Purpose Drivers' Licenses in
New York.
Paragraph 1 directs the department to provide limited purpose drivers'
licenses to qualified individuals.
Paragraph 2 sets forth the necessary proofs of identity and residency an
applicant must show in order to obtain a limited purpose drivers'
license.
Paragraph 3 sets forth the duration for which limited purpose drivers'
licenses shall be valid.
Paragraph 4 provides for the creation of a differentiated license
designed to comply with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005 and Department
of Homeland Security Regulations. This differentiated license shall
clearly state that the license is "Not Acceptable for Federal Purposes."
Paragraph 5 makes provisions for altering the limited purpose drivers'
license if the Department of Homeland Security determines that a license
issued pursuant to this section does not comply with federal law.
Paragraph 6 makes clear that a license issued pursuant to this section
may not be used as evidence of a license holder's immigration status,
nor as the basis for investigating, arresting, or detaining a limited
purpose license holder under circumstances where an individual who held
a license pursuant to another section of law would not have been inves-
tigated, arrested, or detained.
Paragraph 7 makes it a violation of law, including New York Human Rights
Law (Executive Law Article 15) to discriminate against an individual
because he or she applies for, holds, or presents a license issued under
this section.
Paragraph 8 provides that information collected under this section is
not public record and may not be disclosed by the department unless
required by law.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
By passing this legislation, New York will join the eleven states, as
well as the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico, that have already
taken the sensible step of passing legislation that allows immigrant
motorists the opportunity to obtain legal driving privileges. These
states include our neighbors Connecticut, big states with major cities
like Illinois and California, even Utah, a deep red state, not to
mention the one jurisdiction whose homeland security concerns rival New
York City's - Washington DC.
Ten of these limited purpose divers' license laws were passed in 2013,
and similar bills are under consideration in state houses all across the
country. The reasons for this flurry of legislative activity are simple.
First, limited purpose drivers' licenses are a commonsense way states
can improve public safety while giving hard-working immigrants the
chance to legally do basic things the rest of us take for granted, like
commuting to work, driving to church, or taking their kids to school.
Second, although comprehensive reform has stalled in Washington, recent
federal guidance has allowed states to develop distinguishable, limited
purpose licenses that comply with the REAL ID Act and Department of
Homeland Security requirements.
Allowing all individuals the opportunity to earn a drivers' license,
regardless of immigration status, will improve public safety by ensuring
that everyone driving on our roads is properly credentialed, informed of
our traffic laws, and is operating a registered, inspected, and insured
vehicle. In New Mexico and Utah, where these laws have been in place for
a decade or more, there has been a demonstrable impact on road safety:
New Mexico saw a 23% decrease in traffic deaths between 2002 and 2010
and Utah experienced a 15% decrease during that time period. Moreover,
possessing a legal license will facilitate increased cooperation between
immigrants and law enforcement, making it more likely that drivers will
remain at the scene of a car accident or cooperate as a witness to a
crime, Our current system, which prevents these individuals from obeying
the law, places everyone needlessly at risk.
Passing this law will also reduce the percentage of uninsured drivers on
our roads, leading to lower insurance rates for all New Yorkers. For
example, when Utah changed its policy in 1999, the state's un insurance
rate dropped from 10 percent in 1998 to 5.1 percent in 2007. Since New
Mexico made this change in 2003, its rate of uninsured motorists fell
from 33% to under 9%. As additional drivers obtain insurance, the number
of accidents involving uninsured motorists will naturally decline. The
costs of such accidents - and the premiums that cover them - will drop,
and insurance rates will go down for everyone. For example, in Illinois,
where the law is just starting to go into effect, it is estimated that
if only half of the state's 250,000 unlicensed immigrant residents
become licensed and insured, Illinois policyholders will save $46
million per year in premium payments. With an immigrant population more
than twice the size of Illinois', New York drivers could see even great-
er savings. Additionally, the state would receive an influx of millions
of dollars in fees from these newly licensed drivers, providing poten-
tial funding for any number of worthy programs.
Beyond road safety, lower insurance rates, and revenue for state
coffers, passing this legislation will also allow hundreds of thousands
of immigrants to move out of the shadows and into the economic main-
stream. This will benefit not only the license holders themselves, who
will enjoy greater employment flexibility, but also the many businesses
that employ these individuals. This is particularly true in New York's
agriculture industry, where the workforce is largely comprised of immi-
grants who must routinely drive significant distances between fields and
operate motor vehicles as part of their work. Moreover, immigrants are
disproportionately victims of exploitation and fraud, and the ability to
obtain drivers' license would make them less isolated and vulnerable to
such predation.
Providing drivers' licenses to all New Yorkers is not a novel and
untested plan. In fact, it was the status quo for ninety years, until
2002 when Governor Pataki changed the law to require license holders to
have social security numbers, invalidating the licenses of 152,000 New
Yorkers, In 2007, when Governor Spitzer attempted to restore immigrant
drivers' licenses, New York was clearly not ready for such a step, and
the political firestorm remains fresh in the minds of many. However,
times have changed, and other states have demonstrated that this can be
done, and done right. We cannot afford to wait on federal action to
restore sanity to our broken immigration system. We must take what steps
we can to fill these gaps, and a proven, commonsense measure like this
one is an obvious choice to be part of this effort.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2014: S.5965-amended and recommitted to transportation / A.8257A-amended
and recommitted to transportation
2016: referred to transportation
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To Be Determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect twelve months after the date on which it
shall have become law; provided, however, that the commissioner of motor
vehicles shall promulgate any rules or regulations necessary for the
timely implementation of this act on or before such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2477
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEPULVEDA, RAMOS, MOSLEY, MOYA, FAHY, CAHILL,
RIVERA, HYNDMAN, GOTTFRIED, BLAKE, JEAN-PIERRE, CRESPO -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. FARRELL, GJONAJ, ROZIC, SIMON -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing
the department of motor vehicles to issue limited purpose drivers'
licenses
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new
2 section 503-a to read as follows:
3 § 503-a. Limited purpose drivers' licenses. 1. The department shall,
4 subject to the requirements of this section, issue a driver's license to
5 an applicant for a driver's license who meets the applicable require-
6 ments of this chapter but who is unable to satisfy the forms for proof
7 of identity prescribed in section five hundred two of this article.
8 2. To be eligible for a driver's license under this section, the
9 applicant must:
10 (a) Present to the department proof of identity on terms identical to
11 those required by the department's Form ID-44, with the following
12 exemptions:
13 (i) The following documents shall be accepted as three points of proof
14 of name, as well as proof of date of birth: (A) a current photo iden-
15 tification card issued to the applicant by the embassy or consulate in
16 the United States of his or her country of citizenship; (B) a current
17 identification document issued to the applicant by the government of his
18 or her country of citizenship; or (C) an official municipal identifica-
19 tion card issued by a municipality within the state.
20 (ii) The department shall accept either of the following as two points
21 of proof of name: an individual taxpayer identification number or a
22 sworn statement under the penalty of perjury, stating the applicant's
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00121-01-7
A. 2477 2
1 identity, and the fact that he or she has not been issued a social secu-
2 rity number.
3 (iii) An otherwise valid foreign passport shall not be required to
4 include an I-551 stamp, and shall be accepted as three points of proof
5 of name as well as proof of date of birth.
6 (iv) The following documents shall be accepted as two points of proof
7 of name, as well as proof of date of birth: a certified birth certif-
8 icate from the applicant's country of citizenship, or a consular report
9 of the applicant's birth.
10 (v) Any federal Department of Homeland Security documentation listed
11 on the department's form ID-44 as proof of identity shall be accepted as
12 three points of proof of name as well as proof of date of birth even if
13 the authorization period listed therein has expired.
14 (vi) Official records from a religious entity confirming participation
15 in a religious ceremony shall be accepted as one point of proof of name,
16 though not as proof of date of birth.
17 (b) Submit proof of an established residency in this state on terms
18 identical to the proof of residency requirements in the department's
19 Form ID-44EDL, except that a copy of a money order receipt with the
20 applicant's name and address, sent to a location in this state from a
21 foreign country, or from a location in this state to a foreign country
22 shall be accepted as one of two documents for proof of residency in this
23 state.
24 3. Licenses issued pursuant to this section shall be valid for the
25 same duration of time as licenses of the same class issued pursuant to
26 section five hundred three of this article.
27 4. Each driver's license issued or renewed pursuant to this section
28 shall include the following notice printed on the face thereof: "Not
29 Acceptable for Federal Purposes". This notice shall be in the same font
30 and color as the text on the face of a driver's license issued pursuant
31 to section five hundred three of this article, with no other distin-
32 guishable features.
33 5. In the event the federal Department of Homeland Security determines
34 a license issued pursuant to this section does not satisfy the require-
35 ments of Section 37.71 of Title 6 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
36 adopted pursuant to paragraph (11) of subdivision (d) of Section 202 of
37 the Real ID Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-13), the commissioner shall, in
38 consultation with the department of law and the office of new Americans
39 of the department of state, modify the license only to the extent neces-
40 sary to satisfy the requirement of such section.
41 6. A driver's license issued pursuant to this section shall not be
42 used as evidence of the holder's citizenship or immigration status, and
43 shall not be used as a basis for a criminal investigation, arrest or
44 detention in circumstances where a holder of a driver's license that was
45 not issued pursuant to this section would not be criminally investi-
46 gated, arrested or detained.
47 7. It shall be a violation of law including but not limited to, arti-
48 cle fifteen of the executive law, to discriminate against an individual
49 because he or she applies for, holds or presents a license issued pursu-
50 ant to this section.
51 8. Information collected pursuant to this section shall not be deemed
52 to be a public record and shall not be disclosed by the department,
53 except as required by law.
54 9. Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, a license issued
55 pursuant to this section may be used as legal identification of the
56 holder to whom the license is issued.
A. 2477 3
1 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
2 law; provided, however, that the commissioner of motor vehicles shall
3 promulgate any rules and regulations necessary for the timely implemen-
4 tation of the provisions of this act on or before such effective date.
