Legislature(2001 - 2002)
02/20/2001 08:02 AM House STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
HB 110 - SOCIAL SECURITY NO. & DRIVER'S LICENSES Number 0076 CHAIR COGHILL announced that the first order of business would be HOUSE BILL NO. 110, "An Act relating to driver's licenses and instructional permits; and providing for an effective date." He noted that there had been questions raised about how HB 110 might affect criminal investigation. Number 0092 DEL SMITH, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Public Safety, testified that the standard policy when a law enforcement officer stops a person is to get that person's identification -- what is called the "ID Lic" (an abbreviation for "identification/license number"). When the Department of Motor Vehicles issues an identification card for a person who [might be] 15 years old, that person is given a number. If the person later gets a driver's license, the license will have the same number. If an officer stops somebody, that number should pull up the person's record. Others way of doing that are to search under the person's name, Social Security number, or date of birth. MR. SMITH said those in law enforcement prefer to have all the information they can gather about somebody, but the ID Lic can be used to access additional information. Number 0322 REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS expressed concern about the possibility of an officer stopping someone for [driving with] a light out or some minor thing, letting the driver go, and finding later that the person was wanted in another state. Representative Stevens said he just wanted to be reassured by the Department of Public Safety that the absence of a Social Security number on the license would not cause any difficulty for law enforcement officers; it wouldn't allow somebody to slip through without being identified. MR. SMITH said he didn't know how he would verify a [person's] Social Security number even if he had it. REPRESENTATIVE STEVENS explained that HB 110 says the Social Security number would not be there [on the face of the license]. He summarized, "So what you're saying is that that driver's license number, that ID [licence], would be sufficient. Adding the Social Security [number] to that information you already have would not be an advantage for you." MR. SMITH replied that [the absence of the Social Security number] wouldn't necessarily be a disadvantage. If the officer had a driver's license number from Florida, that could be run through the [Federal Bureau of Investigation's] National Crime Information Center to see if there were any outstanding warrants [on that person]. He said: I can't see a situation where that would affect what you were able to do or [would help to] identify the person at that point. The Social Security number and other identifiers help later on when you're trying to sort things out. If you've got two people by the name of Bob Stevens and you're trying to figure out who they are, you could query them about their Social Security number or those [other] things. So it is helpful to have [the Social Security number] available someplace down the pike, but it's not absolutely imperative that you have it on a driver's license at the time of a stop. MR. SMITH told the committee that he had queried some of his fellow law enforcement officers in the past few days. "As I said earlier, all of us like to gather all the information that we can," he repeated. "We would prefer to have it on there, [but] would [the absence of a Social Security number] allow ... a criminal to slip through our fingers? I doubt it." Number 0525 CHAIR COGHILL summarized that public safety officials have access to all the identification [on record]. It probably would be a convenience if they had [the Social Security number] right in front of them. But part of his emphasis in HB 110 is the public safety in another arena, that of identity theft, and balancing that concern [against an officer's need for information]. He wanted to be certain that the latter would not be compromised, and asked Mr. Smith if it was accurate to say it would not. MR. SMITH confirmed the accuracy of Chair Coghill's summary. REPRESENTATIVE FATE said he had received an e-mail indicating concern about another type of identification card. He asked if that card, the precursor to the driver's license, had the Social Security number on it. MR. SMITH explained that a state ID card is issued if a person does not have a driver's license or does not want a driver's license in Alaska, but still wants a state government identification card. He did not know the Department of Motor Vehicles rules concerning that ID card, but he thought HB 110 was also addressing the printing of Social Security numbers on the ID card as well [as on the driver's license]. He explained that a person's ID number would become that person's driver's license number if the person later obtained a license. CHAIR COGHILL mentioned that two of his children had obtained state ID cards, and that their Social Security numbers appeared on those cards. He asked Charles Hosack to address the question. Number 0712 CHARLES R. HOSACK, Deputy Director, Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV), testified by teleconference. He testified that as required by statute, DMV issues an identification card identical to the motor vehicle operator's license. Currently, the ID card bears the Social Security number as does the driver's license. He said DMV applies the same rules to the ID card as to the driver's license. If the person objects, DMV leaves off the Social Security number. If HB 110 passes in its current form, even though it does not address ID cards, DMV would apply the same policy to the ID card because of the existing statutory requirement. Number 0785 REPRESENTATIVE JAMES moved to report HB 110 out of committee with individual recommendations and the accompanying zero fiscal note. There being no objection, HB 110 was moved out of the House State Affairs Judiciary Standing Committee.
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