BILL REQ. #:  H-0422.3 

Read first time 01/26/11.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to verification that an applicant for a driver's license or identicard is lawfully within the United States; amending RCW 29A.08.350, 46.20.035, 46.20.117, 46.20.155, and 46.20.181; and adding new sections to chapter 46.20 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 29A.08.350 and 2009 c 369 s 21 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department of licensing shall produce and transmit to the secretary of state the following information from the records of each individual who requested a voter registration or transfer at a driver's license facility: The name, address, date of birth, gender of the applicant, the driver's license number, citizenship status, and the date on which the application for voter registration or transfer was submitted. The secretary of state shall process the registrations and transfers as an electronic application and only register those individuals whose eligibility is established. If United States citizenship has not been established, the secretary may not issue a voter registration.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 46.20 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department must adopt rules within ninety days after the effective date of this section to establish procedures for verifying that a driver's license or identicard applicant is a United States citizen or that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law, including determining which documents are adequate to provide proof of citizenship or legal presence. The department may not accept a driver's license or identicard issued by another state as documentation if the other state does not require its driver's license or identicard applicants to provide proof of United States citizenship or proof of authorized presence in the United States under federal law.
     (2) The department must indicate in its records the citizenship status of each driver's license and identicard applicant who is issued a driver's license or identicard under this chapter.
     (3) Unless the department chooses to issue a driver's license marked "not valid for identification purposes" under section 3 of this act, the department must not issue a driver's license if it is unable to verify that the applicant is a United States citizen or that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.

Sec. 3   RCW 46.20.035 and 2008 c 267 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     The department may not issue an identicard or a Washington state driver's license that is valid for identification purposes unless the applicant meets the identification requirements of subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section and the identification requirements of subsection (4) of this section.
     (1) A driver's license or identicard applicant must provide the department with at least one of the following pieces of valid identifying documentation that contains the signature and a photograph of the applicant:
     (a) A valid or recently expired driver's license or instruction permit that includes the date of birth of the applicant;
     (b) A Washington state identicard or an identification card issued by another state;
     (c) An identification card issued by the United States, a state, or an agency of either the United States or a state, of a kind commonly used to identify the members or employees of the government agency;
     (d) A military identification card;
     (e) A United States passport; or
     (f) ((An immigration and naturalization)) A citizenship and immigration services form.
     (2) An applicant who is a minor may establish identity by providing an affidavit of the applicant's parent or guardian. The parent or guardian must accompany the minor and display or provide:
     (a) At least one piece of documentation in subsection (1) of this section establishing the identity of the parent or guardian; and
     (b) Additional documentation establishing the relationship between the parent or guardian and the applicant.
     (3) A person unable to provide identifying documentation as specified in subsection (1) or (2) of this section may request that the department review other available documentation in order to ascertain identity. The department may waive the requirement if it finds that other documentation clearly establishes the identity of the applicant. Notwithstanding the requirements in subsection (2) of this section, the department shall issue an identicard to an applicant for whom it receives documentation pursuant to RCW 74.13.283.
     (4) A driver's license or identicard applicant must provide the department with documentation that the applicant is a United States citizen or that the applicant's presence in the United States is authorized under federal law.
     (5) An identicard or a driver's license that includes a photograph that has been renewed by mail or by electronic commerce is valid for identification purposes if the applicant met the identification requirements of subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section at the time of previous issuance.
     (((5))) (6) The form of an applicant's name, as established under this section, is the person's name of record for the purposes of this chapter.
     (((6))) (7) If the applicant is unable to prove his or her identity under this section or if the department has not verified citizenship or legal presence under section 2 of this act, the department shall plainly label the license "not valid for identification purposes."

Sec. 4   RCW 46.20.117 and 2005 c 314 s 305 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Issuance. The department shall issue an identicard, containing a picture, if the applicant:
     (a) Does not hold a valid Washington driver's license;
     (b) Proves his or her identity and proves that he or she is a United States citizen or is authorized under federal law to be present in the United States, as required by RCW 46.20.035; and
     (c) Pays the required fee. The fee is twenty dollars unless an applicant is a recipient of continuing public assistance grants under Title 74 RCW, who is referred in writing by the secretary of social and health services. For those persons the fee must be the actual cost of production of the identicard.
     (2) Design and term. The identicard must:
     (a) Be distinctly designed so that it will not be confused with the official driver's license; and
     (b) Expire on the fifth anniversary of the applicant's birthdate after issuance or on the date the applicant's authorization to be within the United States expires, whichever occurs first. If there is no definite end to the period of authorized stay, the identicard expires one year after the date of issuance.
     (3) Renewal. An application for identicard renewal may be submitted by means of:
     (a) Personal appearance before the department; or
     (b) Mail or electronic commerce, if permitted by rule of the department and if the applicant did not renew his or her identicard by mail or by electronic commerce when it last expired. However, the department may accept an application for renewal of an identicard submitted by means of mail or electronic commerce only if specific authority and funding is provided for this purpose by June 30, 2004, in the omnibus transportation appropriations act.
     An identicard may not be renewed by mail or by electronic commerce unless the renewal issued by the department includes a photograph of the identicard holder.
     (4) Cancellation. The department may cancel an identicard if the holder of the identicard used the card or allowed others to use the card in violation of RCW 46.20.0921.

Sec. 5   RCW 46.20.155 and 2009 c 369 s 42 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Before issuing an original license or identicard or renewing a license or identicard under this chapter and if an applicant provides proof of United States citizenship as required under RCW 46.20.035(4), the licensing agent shall determine if the applicant wants to register to vote or transfer his or her voter registration by asking the following question:

     "Do you want to register to vote or transfer your voter registration?"

     If the applicant chooses to register or transfer a registration, the agent shall ask the following:

     (1) "Are you a United States citizen?"
     (2) "Are you or will you be eighteen years of age on or before the next election?"

     If the applicant answers in the affirmative to both questions, the agent shall then submit the registration or transfer. If the applicant answers in the negative to either question, the agent shall not submit a voter registration application.
     (2) The department shall establish a procedure that substantially meets the requirements of subsection (1) of this section when permitting an applicant to renew a license or identicard by mail or by electronic commerce.

Sec. 6   RCW 46.20.181 and 1999 c 308 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, every driver's license expires on the fifth anniversary of the licensee's birthdate following the issuance of the license or on the date the licensee's authorization to be within the United States expires, whichever occurs first. If there is no definite end to the period of authorized stay, the driver's license expires one year after the date of issuance.
     (2) A person may renew his or her license on or before the expiration date by submitting an application as prescribed by the department and paying a fee of twenty-five dollars. This fee includes the fee for the required photograph.
     (3) A person renewing his or her driver's license more than sixty days after the license has expired shall pay a penalty fee of ten dollars in addition to the renewal fee, unless his or her license expired when:
     (a) The person was outside the state and he or she renews the license within sixty days after returning to this state; or
     (b) The person was incapacitated and he or she renews the license within sixty days after the termination of the incapacity.
     (((4) During the period from July 1, 2000, to July 1, 2006, the department may issue or renew a driver's license for a period other than five years, or may extend by mail a license that has already been issued, in order to evenly distribute, as nearly as possible, the yearly renewal rate of licensed drivers. The fee for a driver's license issued or renewed for a period other than five years, or that has been extended by mail, is five dollars for each year that the license is issued, renewed, or extended. The department may adopt any rules as are necessary to carry out this subsection.))

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 46.20 RCW to read as follows:
     Upon receiving satisfactory proof that the applicant's presence in the United States has been reauthorized, extended, or continues without definite end, the department may adjust the term of a driver's license or identicard that was issued to expire on the expiration date of an applicant's authorization to be within the United States or was issued to expire one year from the date of issuance. The expiration date of a driver's license or identicard may be adjusted up to the date the applicant's authorization to be within the United States expires or up to the full period that the driver's license or identicard could have originally been issued, whichever occurs first. If there is no definite end to the period of authorized stay, the expiration date may be extended for one year. There is no additional fee for a driver's license or identicard term adjusted under this section.