Thread: NY: Senate Assails NY License Plan

Senate assails license plan
GOP hints at withholding funds

By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published: Tuesday, October 16, 2007

ALBANY -- If Gov. Eliot Spitzer doesn't put the brakes on his plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal aliens, the Republican-controlled Senate may throw up a roadblock by withholding funding needed to put the new system in place.
That's what senators suggested Monday at a daylong hearing during which Senate Republicans continued to savage the plan.

It added more uncertainty to the future of Spitzer's policy. Assembly Republicans are threatening to sue over the issue, and some county clerks say they will defy the governor and simply reject applications.

"Slow down ... before we get into a budget clash over this issue," Sen. Tom Libous, R-Binghamton, who heads the Transportation Committee, told Motor Vehicles Commissioner David Swarts, who was grilled for 4 hours by lawmakers.

Libous said the Legislature next year could have one of its legendary late budgets, with lawmakers going months beyond the April deadline if they hit gridlock over funding of the license plan.

"Will you recommend to him to put this on hold?" Joseph Griffo, R-Rome, asked Swarts.

"I will continue to have discussions with the governor and his staff," Swarts said.

In addition to repeating fears that granting licenses to illegal aliens could allow terrorists to obtain important documents that would allow them to move freely in the country, Republicans also excoriated the Spitzer camp for springing the plan on lawmakers and county clerks last month with no warning or input.

"It was not an intentional slight," Swarts said of the lack of notice.

"A pretty big one, don't you think?" replied Sen. Andrew Lanza, R-Staten Island.

"There seems to be a bit of arrogance here in jamming it down the public's throat and saying 'this is good for you,' " said Libous.

Spitzer last month reversed a portion of motor vehicle law that requires a Social Security number, or an explanation of why an applicant doesn't have one, for a driver's license.

Under the new plan, to be fully phased in by next spring, someone lacking a Social Security number can provide a passport instead. Such applications will undergo special scrutiny under a newly formed investigatory unit of DMV.

The change could allow thousands of illegal aliens to get driver's licenses. Spitzer says it would bring such people "out of the shadows," and at least let police have a better idea of how many illegal aliens are on the state's highways.

Opponents, though, were unmoved, and raised the issue of the Legislature's power to withhold funding. So far, the license plan's cost is relatively modest. For this year, Spitzer estimates it will run $1.4 million, which can be absorbed in the current state budget, said Spitzer spokeswoman Jennifer Givner.

But in the next fiscal year, an undetermined amount of money will be needed for various costs, including training and hiring people to review the passports, she said.

The budget process isn't the only battlefront for opponents.

Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, R-Schenectady, says he will sue the governor if he doesn't drop the plan.

Opponents like Tedisco point to a section of the state's motor vehicle law that says "the commissioner also shall require that the applicant provide his or her Social Security number."

The Social Security requirement dates to 1995 when it was used as a way to help keep tabs on deadbeat parents who had lapsed on child support payments.

But the administration argues the law doesn't apply to those who don't have a Social Security number in the first place, such as Canadians living here who can currently get licenses.

"These words merely require an applicant to provide a Social Security number that he or she already has. They do not require someone to obtain a Social Security number as a condition to getting a license if the applicant does not have a Social Security number," said Givner.

Moreover, the Spitzer camp points to a state Court of Appeals case last June that upheld the DMV commissioner's "wide discretion" in deciding what documents are needed.

While Spitzer and his aides expressed confidence in their legal arguments, the governor's plan, and his approval rating, continue to sink in the court of public opinion, according to a Siena Research Institute poll out on Monday.

Seventy-two percent of New York voters who are aware of the plan oppose it, with 22 percent favoring it, the poll found.

"The voter's message to the governor is clear: 'No, no, no,' " said Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg.

Additionally, Spitzer's job performance rating is 41 percent positive to 55 percent negative, down from 44-49 percent last month, and a high of 57-36 percent in May.

"While the governor's numbers may not be falling off a cliff, they are rolling swiftly and solidly down hill," said Greenberg.

Karlin can be reached at 454-5758 or by e-mail at rkarlin@timesunion.com.


http://timesunion.com/AspStories/storyp ... yID=630418

We need to push the Senate to turn their attention towards the other states that have already adopted this policy. New York isn’t the only one, just the most recent.

I agree. The Senate shouldn't feel any different towards the other states that they do with New York. Get down on all of them.

Im pretty darn sure they are referring to the New York State Senate.

Not the one in Washington.

Moving to News.