Last week I filed a bill that will change the way you get your driver's license renewed. In 2005 the legislature granted the Department of Revenue the ability to create their own department rules for granting and renewing driver licenses in the State of Missouri. This was done so that the state could easily follow any guidelines the Federal Homeland Security Agency set forth in the Real Id Act. To date, the Homeland Security Agency has not set forth what standards states must meet in order to comply with the Real ID Act even though the Real ID Act is to be implemented in 2008.
The Department of Revenue in order to begin preparing the State for the Real Id Act began to implement rule changes they "thought" might be included in the Real Id Act guidelines. One of the rules changes was requiring all first time applicants and those applying for a renewal of their driver's license to present an official state birth certificate (in order to prove lawful presence). For many Missourians this became an almost impossible task to complete for various reasons.
The last time I checked, Missouri and New Jersey were the only two states that required applicants wishing to renew their license to present a birth certificate. I am happy to report that over 100 of my fellow legislators from both sides of the aisle have signed onto this bill.
Last year I offered a similar amendment on a transportation bill and received 154 votes. The amendment was eventually stripped off when it went to a conference committee thanks to some strong lobbying by the Department of Revenue and due to the fact that the handler of the bill opposed my amendment but only got three other legislators to join him (that's called political payback). I have requested the bill be sent to the special committee on Homeland Security where 5 of the 8 members have co-signed the legislation.
For more information on the bill please see the following link: http://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/bills/hb622.htm
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2 comments:
Congratulations Mike. I work with senior citizens and throughout the past year, I have overheard so, so many complaints from them as they tried to collect the proof they needed. This is no way to treat the seniors, and yes, I know, they were unintended victims, but victims none-the-less of a not well thought out policy.
In 2006 we made a minor change to the Lawful Presense law. As of September of 2006, if you are 65 years or older and you have a current valid MO driver's license you do not need to show a birth certificate to renew your driver's license. This should help some of our seniors with the process.
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