BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
60 (Cedillo)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: A.I. 01/20/2009
Consultant: Mark McKenzie Policy Vote: T&H 6-4
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BILL SUMMARY: SB 60 would require the Department of Motor
Vehicles (DMV) to issue driver's licenses and identification
cards that are in compliance with the federal Real ID Act of
2005.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
DMV administration multi-million dollar costs (see staff
notes) Special*
License revenue gain multi-million dollar gains (see staff
notes) Special*
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* Motor Vehicle Account
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
Current law requires every applicant for an original driver's
license or identification card to submit satisfactory proof that
the person has legal presence status under federal law. The
California Code of Regulations specifies 27 documents that may
be submitted as satisfactory proof of legal presence status,
such as a birth certificate or approved immigration documents.
Applications for the issuance or renewal of a driver's license
or ID card must contain a section for the applicant's social
security number. DMV is authorized to charge a fee of $25 for
driver's license applications.
SB 60, known as the "California Real ID Act of 2009," is
intended to ensure that the State of California meets or exceeds
the standards and requirements contained in the federal Real ID
Act of 2005. Specifically, this bill would:
Require DMV to issue a driver's license that is
acceptable for any federal identification purposes within
240 days of approval the state's implementation plan by the
federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Require DMV, within the same timeframe, to issue a
driver's license that is not acceptable for federal
identification purposes to persons who cannot demonstrate
legal presence status, as specified.
On the date that DMV commences the issuance of Real ID
compliant driver's licenses, this bill would repeal
existing law that prohibits DMV from issuing an original
driver's license or identification card to applicant's who
cannot demonstrate legal presence status.
Revise misdemeanor provisions by prohibiting a person
from knowingly assisting another person in obtaining a
driver's license, identification card, or other document in
violation of the Real ID Act and repealing provisions
related to obtaining a driver's license for someone who
cannot demonstrate legal presence.
Page 2
SB 60 (Cedillo)
Congress enacted and the President signed H.R. 1268-"Real ID Act
of 2005" on May 11, 2005, which is designed to improve the
security of driver's licenses and identification cards issued by
the individual states. The Act includes certain minimum
document and license issuance requirements, and it provides that
only persons with legal presence status can be issued a driver's
license or identification card (DL/ID). A state, however, is
permitted to issue a license or identification card to an
undocumented immigrant, providing the license meets certain
appearance requirements and clearly states that it cannot be
used for any other official purpose.
The federal act originally required implementation to begin in
May 2008, but final regulations delaying full implementation of
the Act were not released by the federal government until
January 11, 2008. Regardless of the start date, to be in
compliance, DMV must issue original and renewal drivers'
licenses and identification cards that meet the requirements of
the Real ID Act to all existing cardholders and new applicants
by 2017. Last year, DMV estimated costs over eight years to
implement Real ID at $143 million for "material compliance" and
$303 million for "full compliance." The primary difference
between material and full compliance is that with full
compliance, DMV is fully integrated with new national "pointer"
databases of birth records and DL/ID cards. DMV indicates that
it does not have the authority to fully implement the Real ID
Act without legislative approval and statutory change. However,
DMV has initiated information technology improvements and
planning activities to facilitate implementation of the Act.
SB 60 is expected to encourage the estimated 2.2 million
undocumented immigrants of driving age in California to apply
for a driver's license or identification card. DMV estimates
approximately 2 million additional applications in the first 18
months following implementation. DMV estimates costs to process
new undocumented immigrant applications to be $80-$107 million
over three years, with offsetting fee revenue gain of
approximately $60 million.
Furthermore, this bill would require all existing license
holders to visit a DMV field office to apply for a Real ID
compliant driver's license. DMV would have to suspend its
renewal-by-mail and renewal-by-internet programs for good
drivers who normally would not have to visit a field office for
15 years. Currently, approximately 2.8 million persons apply
for an original or renewal driver's license in person. This
bill would result in an additional annual workload of 2 million
customers over five years following implementation. DMV
estimates five-year costs to re-certify all current drivers and
new applicants to be over $500 million, offset by fee revenue
gains of a similar magnitude.
DMV estimates up-front costs of approximately $13 million for a
minimum of 10 new facilities, each with 2 year leases of $1.3
million, significant computer programming costs of about $1
million, and approximately $80 million to hire and train over
600 new staff to handle the increased workload, all of which
must be in place prior to implementation and cannot be financed
with application fees. DMV would require a multi-million dollar
appropriation to implement this bill.
Proposed amendments would require implementation by January 1,
2011, instead of within 240 days of approval the state's
implementation plan by the federal DHS.