Here is an article from the Sacramento Bee. The nightmare for the Dems are coming true.
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[url]http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/v-print/story/7842839p-8783331c.html[url]
Law allowing undocumented immigrants to gain driver's licenses in peril
- (Published November 24, 2003)
Slightly more than five weeks before it was to take effect, the law allowing undocumented immigrants the chance to get a driver’s license faces imminent repeal, as the Senate voted Monday 33-0 to kill it.
At least 17 senators who voted for the bill in September voted Monday to repeal it, while six others abstained from voting.
The Assembly is also expected to rush to similar action, beginning with a transportation committee meeting at noon Tuesday.
The sudden collapse of the law’s prospects highlighted the pressure of voter opposition, a threatened initiative to repeal it in March and the clout of Gov. Schwarzenegger, who called the Legislature into special session to overturn the law within hours of his taking office last week. Schwarzenegger, who campaigned against the law passed in September and signed by former Gov. Gray Davis, wants a compromise version that includes more safeguards and background checks on applicants.
Schwarzenegger has criticized the way the law was passed and said he wants a new law that ties the licenses to insurance and background checks.
The law’s author, Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, urged his colleagues to repeal it in the face of widespread public opposition. Though Cedillo stood by his long fight to let 2 million residents living illegally in California get licenses without providing Social Security numbers, he pledged to work with new Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger next year to find middle ground.
[b]“This is not easy,” a shaken Cedillo told his colleagues before the vote to overturn the law before it takes effect Jan. 1. Only weeks earlier as Schwarzenegger had included a repeal of the law among the objectives of his first 100 days, Cedillo had vowed it would not happen.[/b]
“I ask because I have had some time with the governor,” he said on the Senate floor Monday, asking for a two-thirds majority to repeal the law and start over. “I believe him. I trust him. I believe he has articulated a matter in which we can resolve concerns of mutual interest.”
Monday’s votes were the third time in 14 months the issue has occupied center stage in the Capitol, revealing California’s deep political divides over illegal immigration from Mexico and Central America, especially in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Immigrant rights supporters, labor unions and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton testified Monday before the Senate Transportation Committee that driver’s licenses will spur more motorists to take the state driving test and become insured. But opponents called it a reward for lawbreakers and a possible tool for terrorists to infiltrate the United States. Nationwide, 37 states require driver’s license applicants to prove they are legal residents.
The law would have allowed illegal residents to use a taxpayer identification number to apply for a license instead of the Social Security number used by most people. That was the practice in California until 1994 and is still followed in six states, including Kansas, Kentucky, Utah and West Virginia.
Last year, Davis vetoed a similar bill, angering Hispanic political leaders. In September, however, he signed the version now being repealed as he was unsuccessfully trying to fight off the attempt to recall him. That led to charges he was pandering for Hispanic votes to save his job.
Among the 37 states that require driver’s license applicants to prove they are legal U.S. residents are Arizona, Colorado, Texas, New York, Florida, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia, according to the Los Angeles-based National Immigration Law Center.
Thirteen states require no proof of lawful presence in the United States for a driver’s license, including most of California’s western neighbors: Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah.
Democratic senators who voted for the bill earlier this year and voted to repeal it Monday included Dede Alpert of San Diego, John Burton of San Francisco, Cedillo, Wesley Chesbro of Arcata, Denise Ducheny of San Diego, Joseph Dunn of Garden Grove, Martha Escutia of Norwalk, Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica, Michael Machado of Linden, Kevin Murray of Los Angeles, Don Perata of Oakland, Jack Scott of Altadena, Byron Sher of Stanford, Jackie Speier of Daly City, Tom Torlakson of Martinez, John Vasconcellos of Santa Clara and Edward Vincent of Inglewood.
Among Democratic supporters earlier this year who did not vote Monday: Richard Alarcon of Van Nuys, Liz Figueroa of Sunol, Dean Florez of Shafter, Deborah Ortiz of Sacramento, Gloria Romero of Los Angeles and Nell Soto of Pomona.
-- Associated Press