Driver's licenses: eligibility: required documentation.

(1) Existing law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to require an applicant for an original driver's license or identification card to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law. Existing law prohibits the department from issuing an original driver's license or identification card to a person who does not submit satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law. This bill would require the department to issue an original driver's license to a person who is unable to submit satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law if he or she meets all other qualifications for licensure and provides satisfactory proof to the department of his or her identity and California residency. The bill would require the department to adopt emergency regulations, in consultation with appropriate interested parties, as prescribed, to implement those provisions, including identifying documents acceptable for the purposes of providing identity and California residency and procedures for verifying the authenticity of the documents. The bill would require the department to accept various types of documentation for this purpose. The bill would require a license issued pursuant to those provisions, including temporary licenses, to include on the front of the card a recognizable feature and a specified notice. The bill would authorize the department to modify these licenses if these licenses do not meet federal requirements. The bill would provide that information collected pursuant to those provisions is not a public record and shall not be disclosed by the department, except as required by law. This bill would make it a violation of law to discriminate against an individual because he or she holds or presents a license issued under these provisions. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2018, the California Research Bureau to compile and submit to the Legislature and the Governor a report that, among other things, includes instances when these licenses are used to discriminate against an individual. The bill would provide that a person applying for a license pursuant to these provisions may be required to pay, only until June 30, 2017, an additional fee to offset the reasonable administrative costs of implementing these provisions. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes. (2) Existing law requires the department to require an application for a driver's license to contain the applicant's social security number and any other number or identifier determined to be appropriate by the department. Existing law authorizes an applicant who provides satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, but who is not eligible for a social security number, to receive an original driver's license if he or she meets all other requirements for licensure. This bill would authorize an applicant who is unable to provide satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law to sign an affidavit attesting that he or she is both ineligible for a social security number and unable to submit satisfactory proof that his or her presence in the United States is authorized under federal law in lieu of submitting a social security number. The bill would prohibit the use of this information to consider an individual's citizenship or immigration status as a basis for a criminal investigation, arrest, or detention. This bill would make these changes operative on January 1, 2015, or on the date the director of the department executes a specified declaration, whichever is sooner. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on the effective date of a final judicial determination made by any court of appellate jurisdiction that any of these provisions, or their application, are enjoined, found unconstitutional, or held invalid for any reason. The bill would require the department to post this information on its Internet Web site. This bill would state that its provisions do not authorize an individual to apply for, or be issued, a commercial driver's license without submitting his or her social security account number with his or her application.