Senate Bill S1809

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1809

SPONSOR: JORDAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the indemni-
fication of department of motor vehicle employees for processing non-
commercial drivers' licenses and learners' permits which do not meet
federal standards for identification

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Section 502 of the Vehicle and Traffic' Law by provid-
ing that the commissioner of motor vehicles, county clerks, and the
employees thereof shall be held harmless for any and all claims, liabil-
ities, damages, or fines arising from any criminal act involving non-
federal standard drivers licenses created by Chapter 37 of the Laws of
2019. This includes, but is not limited to, identify theft, forgery,
money laundering, and terrorism.

Section 2 sets forth the effective date.

              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Chapter 37 of the Laws of 2019, which provided for the creation of a
system of drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, has created many
new challenges for DMV employees and county clerks. Central among these
issues is the fundamental undermining of the reliability of identifica-
tion, as the State can no longer guarantee an individual is who their
identification says they are. The law allows for foreign forms of iden-
tification to be used as proof of identity, and foreign forms of iden-
tification can be easily forged. The United States, as of 2017, recog-
nizes 193 foreign countries, and to date, the State has not and will not
provide the resources necessary for DMV staff to determine the authen-
ticity of foreign documents. County clerks were given as little as a
40-minute webinar, and federal officials have indicated that authentica-
tion machines provided to DMV offices are inadequate. Consequently,
these licenses can and will be used in the commission of crimes.

Rising from the failure of Chapter 37 to account for identification
fraud issues based on inauthentic foreign documents, several dangers
have arisen for hard-working public servants at the DMV. The possibility
of being named in a criminal or civil lawsuit for the wrongdoing of an
individual who obtained a non-federally compliant driver's license using
foreign forms of identification is now a very real threat for county
clerks, DMV employees, or even the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles. This
bill ensures that employees of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the
Commissioner, and county clerks acting in good faith are indemnified and
held harmless in suits rising from criminal acts relating to the use of
non-federally compliant drivers licenses.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S6907 of 2019-20.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the state.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
In the same date and same manner as Chapter 37 of the Laws of 2019 and
shall apply to all actions filed on or after such date.