SB 215-REQUIREMENTS FOR DRIVER'S LICENSE/I.D.    10:13:00 AM CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the consideration of SB 215. SENATOR CHARLIE HUGGINS, Alaska State Legislature, sponsor of SB 215, said the bill requires an applicant for a driver's license or a state identification card to be a citizen of this country or legally present. Alaskans are sensitive to the issue "of people coming here and exploiting our system when they're not here legally." Regarding a student with a visa, his or her driver's license will be good for the length of the visa. It allows the state to know who is here. In 2006, SB 189 passed the Senate by a margin of 17 to 1. Representative Bob Lynn has "the real bill." This is a companion bill to his. "I'm supporting his cause for Alaskans, and we need to merge those at some time … but that does not subordinate how important I think this is to Alaskans." SB 215 is one way to keep at bay "people who are illegal in our state exploiting our system." 10:16:34 AM SENATOR BUNDE said he just received information about the number of illegal aliens who were involved in crime and deported or moved to another state. It is 200 to 300 people per year. SENATOR HUGGINS said Americans are very naïve. There is networking going on and people are being transported, he said. "The worst, obviously, is down at the southern border in some cases, but it doesn't matter whether it's people that have the capacity to create havoc in our country based on terrorism, or the fact that they're transporting drugs, or it's just that they're being paid to move people. That same networking is happening within states." "When things are getting a little bit warmed as far as preventive measures in state X, they may move to state Y, which is Alaska." 10:18:47 AM DUANE BANNOCK, former Director, Alaska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), said he is testifying "just for fun … it was an important bill to me when it was about my job; it's an important bill to me today when it doesn't have anything to do about my job." Senator Huggins has done a good job of describing the bill. "There are a lot of knocks about this bill." California, with its great understanding of illegal immigration, has rules similar to SB 215. He opined that Governor Gray Davis of California was recalled because he wanted illegal aliens to get state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards. This bill is about preventing people who are illegally here from having an Alaskan driver's license or identification card. A bill passed the Senate, but SB 215 is different with regard to Sections 1 and 2, which will save time and money. A 60-year-old can get a free five-year identification card. SB 215 provides for eight years instead of five. It costs the state to produce that card. By giving less away, it saves money. 10:22:09 AM MR. BANNOCK said it is not about big brother. "If you believe that illegal aliens should not be allowed to have a valid Alaska driver's license or identification care, I urge your yes vote." SCOTT MCMURREN, Travel Consultant, Anchorage, said he is not illegal, but he is a traveler. SB 215 allows the legislature to pass off their oversight with regard to the Division of Motor Vehicles. It is a back door to complying with "real i.d." Real I.D. is a bad thing. We do not need big national databases on travelers who have done nothing wrong. "These are the same folks who brought us the terrorist watch list - 700,000 people - my goodness, how many terrorists do we really need?" 10:24:43 AM BILL SCANNEL, Anchorage, said he has personally fought national identification systems around the country for five years. This bill doesn't affect illegal aliens at all. They can't get a driver's license in Alaska today, but SB 215 forces everyone else to prove they are Americans - "to prove who we are by pulling out our birth certificates and passports and high school yearbooks and whatever." That is reprehensible. He asked why Americans should suffer such indignity just because the government can't control the borders. He said he spent four years, two months, and 18 days as an intelligence officer in West Berlin, and he saw what it meant to be forced to carry papers under communist countries. The bill is the cornerstone of the Real I.D. Act. It will give the DMV tremendous powers to implement a national identification card. 10:27:13 AM MATTHEW KERR, Anchorage, said he has personally opposed this bill for the past several years. It is more than a legal presence bill, which he would not be entirely opposed to, but there are more issues than that. He is philosophically against the bill as it is a path to the Real ID Act. It doesn't accomplish its goal, because illegal aliens can drive with their home country licenses. It will increase bureaucracy, and it charges the DMV with federal immigration enforcement. It changes the meaning of a driver's license. He said he doesn't support illegal immigration, but he doesn't support the bill that made it an additional crime for an illegal immigrant to be eating in a restaurant, riding on a bus, or something like that. He prefers that people on the road have drivers licenses. The license is for public safety, not for an individual benefit. 10:29:42 AM MR. KERR said illegal immigrants may be able to drive legally in certain cases while still committing the crime of being here illegally. [Foreign] students are not necessarily granted a stay for the full time needed for their degree programs. They receive an I-20 form which is what actually dictates the length of their legal presence in this country. During a degree program, students will likely receive multiple I-20s. He gave an example where someone's I-20 could be in the mail when the driver's license expires, and the student could be arrested for not having a valid driver's license even though he or she is legally in the country. That person would then become deportable for having the crime of driving without a license. A fair compromise may be to require driver's license applicants to show legal presence at that time without setting an expiration date, other than the standard one. 10:32:07 AM MR. KERR said a friend lived in Germany where public transportation allowed him not to drive. He came to Alaska to visit, and he was legally present. But the DMV couldn't understand how he was legally in the country. He had to find another DMV to issue a license, even though he was legally present under existing regulations. A friend of Mr. Kerr's is a Russian foreign student, and her passport expired and was renewed while she was in this country, so her current passport does not have her visa. He can foresee problems for her if she needs to renew her driver's license under the bill's rules. As a computer programmer, Mr. Kerr finds it extremely troubling if the DMV were to scan and keep all the documents that were used to get the driver's license. If this bill passes, the DMV should be required to destroy copies of those documents. People with bad intentions may access that information. CHAIR MCGUIRE turned the gavel over to Vice-Chair Stevens. 10:35:01 AM JIM HARRISON, Attorney, said he has considerable expertise in identification-based domestic security. He said he is at the hearing at his own expense. Without this bill, Alaska can't comply with the "real i.d." SB 215 contains what is called "a legal presence requirement." The Real I.D. Act's final standards have been issued and require that states require driver's license applicants to prove citizenship. It is meant for everyone for every renewal, and it will need to be done in person. The DMV will decide what documents will be required. That allows the DMV to adopt its own standards. "As it is now, you will have to bring in your birth certificate, proof of legal presence, proof of residence, where you stay and what not." Mr. Bannock previously testified that last year's bill was changed so that renewing a driver's license would not be part of it, and that would mean that Alaska would not be real i.d. compliant. 10:38:07 AM MR. HARRISON said this is expensive. States automatically renew licenses by mail, and the bill will prohibit that. "You have to appear in person. You have to swear under penalty of perjury that you say who you are." Copies of the personal documents will be made. There is no fiscal note on the bill, and it will be expensive. People will need to be trained and facilities will get overrun. He said the federal government wants real i.d.s for getting on airplanes, entering federal buildings, and for entering nuclear facilities. He asked if Alaska should buy into the idea of real i.d. There is danger of mission creep. There is talk about using real i.d. to verify the eligibility of employees and filling prescriptions. Physical security is much more effective than identification security. Searching people for weapons is more effective than secret lists of people. It is un-American to make people prove that they are not wanted on a list before they can freely move around the country. 10:41:11 AM SENATOR HUGGINS said both sides are heartfelt. He shares some of the concerns. He is offended by a census category of what he looks like and what his DNA and complexion are. "I don't fill out that portion." He doesn't provide his Social Security Number, either, if it is optional. He is offended by that. He spent time in the army and "salute those who have done that." But with or without this bill, a person has to "go in" to renew a driver's license. If a person has a driver's license or an identification card and is seeking a renewal, duplicate, or change of name, the person is presumed to meet the requirement of this bill if the license has not been expired for more than 90 days or suspended or revoked. "If this passes, we do not all have to run down to the DMV to get a new license." He said he doesn't support the concept of a national identification card right now. He uses his military identification card when he flies. Other things besides a driver's license can be used to get on an airplane, so the bill "doesn't create that sort of obstacle in my estimation." He will entertain modifications to protect Alaskans. VICE-CHAIR STEVENS said he will hold SB 215.