Legislature(2013 - 2014)CAPITOL 106
01/29/2013 08:00 AM House STATE AFFAIRS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB1 | |
| HB52 | |
| HB1 | |
| HB52 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 1 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| *+ | HB 52 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED |
HB 1-REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE
8:04:53 AM
CHAIR LYNN announced that the first order of business was HOUSE
BILL NO. 1, "An Act relating to issuance of drivers' licenses."
8:05:06 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt Version 28-LS0008\U [the
original bill version].
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT, at the request of the chair, objected
for the purpose of discussion.
8:05:42 AM
FORREST WOLFE, Staff, Representative Bob Lynn, Alaska State
Legislature, presented HB 1 on behalf of Representative Lynn, a
joint prime sponsor. He noted that in a proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 1, [Version 28-LS0008\C,
Strasbaugh/Martin, 1/23/13], "by mail" [on page 1, line 11 of
the original bill] would be removed.
8:06:11 AM
CHAIR LYNN, as a joint prime sponsor, made introductory comments
regarding HB 1. He stated that under HB 1, the Division of
Motor Vehicles would be authorized to issue a driver's license
for a period of less than five years for someone who has a legal
presence in the United States for less than five years.
Currently, a visitor to the U.S. whose visa will expire in two
weeks can walk into the DMV and get a driver's license that does
not expire for five years. The proposed legislation would link
the duration of the driver's license to the duration of the visa
or any other legal-presence document. If the legal presence
document is for some indefinite or provisional period, such as
for someone seeking asylum, then under HB 1, the driver's
license could be issued for one year but renewed each year
thereafter for a period up to five years at no additional
expense. Chair Lynn noted that similar legislation has been
passed in other states, and he asked that the committee support
the proposed legislation.
8:07:20 AM
MR. WOLFE stated that determining how long a foreign national is
allowed to stay in the U.S. is the purview of the Department of
Homeland Security; the State of Alaska should not be issuing
official or legal documentation that outlasts a person's legal
presence in the U.S. The proposed legislation would enable the
DMV to issue a driver's license for less than five years so that
a visitor's license expires at the same time as their visa or
other authorized length-of-stay document. He said HB 1 reflects
what is considered best practice by the American Association of
Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). Currently, he reported,
36 other states, as well as the District of Columbia, have these
similar policies in statute or regulations.
MR. WOLFE said the Alaska DMV already requires a new applicant
of a driver's license to prove legal presence, as is the case in
all but four other states. The proposed legislation, he said,
merely fine-tunes existing law to ensure that a driver's license
reflects the documentation that is currently submitted to the
DMV. Further, the proposed legislation would allow an
international visitor to renew his/her license without an
additional fee if his/her visa or legal-presence-document is
extended for a period of up to five years - the same extension
time that is currently permitted for nearly all Alaskans. The
renewals can be done in person, by mail, and possibly soon by
Internet, and ensures that visitors will not incur extra fees.
Mr. Wolfe repeated Chair Lynn's remark that in the rare instance
that a visitor has a provisional, pending, or indefinite length
of stay, he/she would renew the license each year, but with no
additional fees.
MR. WOLFE stated the intent of the joint sponsors was to keep
the proposed bill as simple as possible, which is why HB 1 does
not address state identification (ID) cards. He said the DMV
already has the authority to issue state ID cards for less than
five years; it does not have the same authority for driver's
licenses. He reiterated that HB 1 would not change how
Alaskan's obtain a driver's license. Further, there is no
requirement under HB 1 that people present any immigration
documentation as proof of ID when applying for a driver's
license. However, if a person does use such documents, the DMV
would consider the expiration date.
MR. WOLFE related that HB 1 is essentially the same as
legislation carried last year that garnered a House vote of 33-
2, with 5 excused absences. He noted that there were people
from the DMV and the Department of Law available to answer
questions.
8:10:02 AM
SHELLY MELLOTT, Deputy Director, Division of Motor Vehicles
(DMV), Department of Administration (DOA), in response to a
question from Representative Keller, stated that currently the
DMV will renew [a driver's license] one time via mail. In
response to a follow-up question, she said the DMV anticipates
having to adopt regulations to accommodate HB 1.
8:12:08 AM
MS. MELLOTT, in response to Representative Isaacson, offered
details regarding the renewal process of a license, including
that the DMV verifies the information provided by the applicant
from his/her last document of issue, in order to verify the
applicant's identity. Following that, she said, the DMV goes
through a process to verify the applicant's eligibility. Upon
meeting both criteria, the applicant prints out the completed
document, signs it, mails it into the division with payment, and
the division issues the applicant a new card, reusing the
photograph, and then mails the card to the applicant.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON offered his understanding that the
intent of HB 1 is to allow the division to issue a license for
less than five years, while the secondary intent is to not allow
an immigrant to have a document that says he/she is legal in
Alaska. He asked how the bill would meet the secondary intent.
For example, he said a person could request an extension on a
license without showing proof that his legal presence document
allows him to be in the U.S. He asked if his remarks are on
target.
8:14:41 AM
MS. MELLOTT said the division would need to develop regulations
to require someone who has a license that is issued for a period
of less than five years to submit proof of extension of his/her
legal presence at time of renewal.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON observed that under HB 1, only certain
people would need to be asked for proof of legal presence, and
he questioned whether that would be discriminatory.
MS. MELLOTT reiterated that under HB 1, the division would be
authorized to adopt regulations to carry out statute. She
deferred the question regarding discrimination to the division's
attorney.
8:16:38 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked, "What does the DMV do now with those same kind
of documents?"
MS. MELLOTT responded that the DMV looks at those documents
every day; however, once a person receives an original license,
he/she never again has to show that proof document again. She
stated that it is not uncommon for people to come into the DMV
with documents that are about to expire, but are valid at the
time they bring them in.
8:17:34 AM
REPRESENTATIVE GATTIS asked how many driver's licenses are
issued to people with visas in Alaska.
MS. MELLOTT said she does not know if the division documents its
records in a way that would facilitate her giving an answer
today. In response to a request from the chair, she estimated
that the division issues several driver's licenses per day to
people with visas.
8:18:09 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT asked for conformation that the sole
purpose of the proposed bill is to align the expiration of both
the driver's license and a person's visa to the same date.
MS. MELLOTT answered that is correct.
8:18:45 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES noted that the committee had received
correspondence expressing concern about the DMV redoing federal
documentation; however, she offered her understanding that the
DMV already deals with that type of paperwork. She asked for
further information regarding how many types of documents the
division sees and how clear the expirations dates on them are.
MS. MELLOTT replied that the DMV staff undertakes extensive
fraudulent document training and addresses daily a wide variety
of documents issued by [the U.S. Citizen and Immigration
Services (USCIS)]; therefore, the only change under HB 1 would
be the expiration date on the driver's license.
8:19:45 AM
MS. MELLOTT, in response to Representative Gattis, said HB 1
would have no effect on international licenses. In response to
a follow-up question, she stated that the DMV does not accept
international licenses as proof documents when issuing Alaska
driver's licenses.
CHAIR LYNN related that when he served in the military, he was
issued an international driver's license.
8:21:32 AM
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked if the original application [for a
driver's license] asks for a person's citizenship.
MS. MELLOTT responded that other than a question about U.S.
citizenship geared toward voter registration, the answer is no.
She said the division can determine by the documents presented
whether a person is a U.S. citizen.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked, "So, ... those folks who currently
have the five-year licenses, who have already expired past their
expiration date, as far as when they should be here, they could
apply by mail and, based on the fact that they had a prior
license, would there be anything that would be red-flagged on
your end from the original application where they indicated "no"
- that they were not a U.S. citizen - so that then you would
request additional documentation?"
MS. MELLOTT said the DMV does ask for date of birth, and from
that could ask for additional information.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked Ms. Mellott if she foresees the
division developing regulations such that it would require
additional information from those applicants who indicate a
birth place outside the U.S. or do not indicate that they are a
U.S. citizen and are applying for a five-year license.
MS. MELLOTT indicated that would be a possibility. In response
to a follow-up question, she said that after passing a legal
presence bill, many states have required any applicant who is
not a citizen of the U.S. to bring documentation into the entity
that issues driver's licenses to determine if the person has
naturalized at that point or received a permanent resident care
or is still in temporary visitor status or does not have valid
documents to be in the U.S.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES asked Ms. Mellott to clarify that her
expectation is the division would request additional information
from someone who is not a U.S. citizen, as other states have
done.
MS. MELLOTT answered that she thinks that would be a best
practice on the part of the division.
8:25:14 AM
CHAIR LYNN asked Ms. Mellott to confirm his understanding that
HB 1 does not change policy regarding who gets a license; it
only makes a change related to expiration date.
REPRESENTATIVE HUGHES answered that is correct.
8:25:26 AM
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON said he does not understand how
affective HB 1 could be in providing the division the ability of
issuing a driver's license for less than five years when it is
possible for a [non-U.S. citizen] in possession of a document
allowing him/her to be in the U.S. for two years to simply renew
his/her driver's license at the end of the two years by mail or
over the Internet, thus ending up with a five-year driver's
license, with no requirement to verify legal presence in the
U.S. to get that license.
8:26:54 AM
MS. MELLOTT responded that currently under statute the division
has no ability to issue any license for less than five years,
unless it is a temporary license. She said the proposed
legislation would give the division the ability to adopt
regulations to issue licenses that for some reason should have
an expiration date of less than five years.
REPRESENTATIVE ISAACSON remarked that those licenses could still
be renewed and "circumvent the original purpose of having less
than five years."
MR. WOOLFE offered his understanding that in a case where a
person's legal presence document expires in two years, that
person's driver's license would also expire, and in order to
renew the driver's license, he/she would need to provide
documentation - for example, a student visa - showing his/her
legal presence has been extended.
8:30:08 AM
AMY ERICKSON, Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV),
Department of Administration (DOA), in response to
Representative Millett, confirmed that the Division of Motor
Vehicles supports HB 1.
CHAIR LYNN noted that there is a zero fiscal note attached to
the proposed legislation.
8:30:38 AM
EARLING JOHANSEN, Assistant Attorney General (AG), Labor & State
Affairs Section, Civil Division - Anchorage, Department of Law
(DOL), stated that as an attorney who represents the DMV, he
sees no constitutional issues with HB 1. He relayed that he had
done a legal check related to legal presence and driver's
licenses and found no cases across the country that had
challenged "this." He said the issue is not one of driver's
license denial; the applicants would be issued a license
consistent with the term of their authorized stay. He said HB 1
is not a bill that challenges the federal government's right to
regulate immigrations. He concluded, "The DMV's activities
based on this bill follow the federal determinations."
8:32:12 AM
CHAIR LYNN, after ascertaining that there was no one else who
wished to testify, closed public testimony on HB 1.
8:32:39 AM
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT removed her prior objection.
8:32:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to report HB 1 out of committee with
individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal
note. He commented that the bill would be heard by the House
Judiciary Standing Committee. There being no objection, HB 1
was reported out of the House State Affairs Standing Committee.
[The committee returned to HB 1 later in the hearing.]
HB 1-REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE
8:45:49 AM
CHAIR LYNN returned the committee's attention to HB 1.
8:45:54 AM
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to rescind the committee's previous
action Committee in moving HB 1 out of committee. There being
no objection, it was so ordered.
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER moved to adopt the proposed committee
substitute (CS) for HB 1, Version 28-LS0008\C,
Strasbaugh/Martin, 1/23/13, as a work draft, and to "make the
recent vote on passage of the bill from committee apply to
Version" [C]. There being no objection, Version C was before
the committee and CSHB 1(STA) was moved out of the House State
Affairs Standing Committee.
CHAIR LYNN inquired, "And the previous testimony we heard will
apply to this current version. Is that correct?"
REPRESENTATIVE KELLER responded, "That's correct."