Posted on 06/28/2004 8:33:00 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO - Legislation that would allow an estimated 2 million illegal immigrants to get California driver's licenses was shelved temporarily Monday by a Senate committee, significantly reducing the amount of time to enact it this year.
The measure by Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, was placed on the Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file, a standard procedure for bills projected to cost the state more than $150,000.
The committee is tentatively scheduled to vote on suspense file bills Aug. 13, and the Legislature is scheduled to adjourn its 2004 session on Aug. 31.
"It certainly shortens the window of opportunity to move it through the Legislature, but we still think we can get it out of the Senate and through the Assembly and onto the governor's desk on or before Aug. 31," said Edward Headington, a spokesman for Cedillo.
Cedillo was the author of legislation that Gov. Gray Davis signed last year that authorized the licenses for illegal immigrants, but after Davis was recalled by voters lawmakers voted to repeal that statute under pressure from Davis' successor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and the threat of a voter referendum to overturn it.
Cedillo has since been negotiating with Schwarzenegger on a new bill with additional security measures attached to it, including fingerprinting and background checks.
Headington said Cedillo was waiting for a counterproposal from the Republican governor once lawmakers approve a new state budget. "We've had our proposal on his desk for just over two months now," he added.
Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said the governor was focusing on reaching a budget agreement with legislative leaders and was not looking at the driver's license legislation "in terms of any specific time horizon."
"He's focused on getting the policy done right, working to ensure that we can devise a policy that allows us to ensure that a person is who he or she says he is," she said.
One sticking point could be whether the licenses include any indication the driver is an immigrant, a provision that Schwarzenegger's communications chief, Rob Stutzman, said earlier this month should be "sensibly discussed" in negotiations on the bill.
But Headington said such a disclosure "invites discrimination. Your landlord or the cashier at the bank doesn't need to know your immigration status."
A potential compromise might be to include that information about the driver's immigration status in the magnetic strip of the license, which would give law enforcement access to it, Headington added.
Opponents contend that the licenses could be used by terrorists to assume false identities, but bill supporters, who include some law enforcement officials, dispute that.
They say the bill would help make the state's roadways safer because illegal immigrants would have to pass driving tests to get licenses.
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On the Net: Read the bill, SB1160, at www.senate.ca.gov
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I'm sorry, but I own rental property and I have an absolute right to know who I am renting to.
Headington's a loon.
You mean illegal immigrants DON'T need to pass a driving test now to get licenses.
...Kind of like "Thread, pulled" by Ad. Mod.%^)...
It can't be that hard to bug a tent.
Since it is illegal to employ aliens, it putting the information on a license would make it easier for employers to comply.
I can forsee a lawsuit the first time someone gets fined for employing an illegal.
I guess the morons in Sacramento finally got the message:
"We recalled a governor, we can recall you too!"
But it's ok for your landlord or the cashier at the bank to know your weight, date of birth, whether you're required to wear corrective lenses, or whether you've chosen to donate your organs after you die. Certainly none of that information can be considered personal.
Most of these illegal alien lawbreakers have been driving for years. They already know how to drive. Giving them driver's licenses won't make them better drivers. It would just make them legal drivers.
"They say the bill would help make the state's roadways safer because illegal immigrants would have to pass driving tests to get licenses."
Hey guys, this is all just a BS ploy to get the illegals an "in" at the DMV so they can register to vote...and anyone who thinks different is just not paying attention!
Kill Gil's Bill .. The Sequel
Of course, that is a lie. In any case, I know a MUCH more effective way at making the roadways safer from illegal aliens: DEPORT THEM ALL!!!
Yeah... And ya hafta pass on the LEFT in this cuntry, Senor!!!
Badges???!!! I don't got to show you...
Isn't it discrimination not to hire murderers on the lam who still contribute to society? What about child molesters who pay taxes? Isn't it my own private business whether or not I am wanted for armed assault on a police officer? What right does my employer or bank have to check on my private legal status??
Oooooooo... But it's such a BIG TENT!!! (with a camel's nose already under the flap!!!)
ping
should be shelved permanently.
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