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."