Driver\u2019s license for all has been proposed before. The House has passed it before. After a lengthy debate Monday, the House did it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
HF4<\/a>, a bill that would eliminate the need to show lawful presence in the country to get a driver\u2019s license or state identification card, got green-lighted on a 69-60 vote. The bill now travels to the Senate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It would bar special markings on the license related to a driver\u2019s immigration status. And it includes data protection while ensuring law enforcement and other agencies have access to the information they need to do their job \u2013 notably the secretary of state\u2019s office, which administers elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bill would appropriate $2.9 million from the vehicle services account in the next biennium for implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Until 2003, residents of Minnesota did not have to provide proof of legal residence to get a driver\u2019s license. Eighteen states have in law what is being proposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are public safety and economic benefits to passing the legislation, which would return the state to pre-2003 regulations, said Rep. Aisha Gomez<\/a> (DFL-Mpls), the bill sponsor. People would have to demonstrate they know the rules of the road, they would be able to get insurance and have access to jobs where public transportation is sparse. The bill has received support from representatives of law enforcement, labor, business and religious groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is the right thing to do, and now is the time to do it,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cI want to acknowledge that the decades of pain our inaction has caused to communities around this state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Staying with the status quo sends the message to immigrant communities we\u2019re happy to use their labor to feed us, care for our elders, happy to collect taxes and fees but we will not make an allowance to get them go to work or take their children to school, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rep. Aisha Gomez<\/a> introduces HF4<\/a> on the House Floor Jan. 30. (Photo by Catherine Davis)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Opponents have concerns the bill would open the state to fraud, especially voter fraud. Several unsuccessfully offered amendments that would require marking licenses as \u201cnot for voting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just want to make sure voting integrity is intact,\u201d said Rep. Patricia Mueller<\/a> (R-Austin), who indicated she would support the bill if such a provision were included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n