DL Bill – House Committee on Public Safety
March 13, 2009 by Thomas Esparza
Filed under Attorneys
Statement of Background and Purpose for House Committee on Public Safety Hearing 03-16-09
Background and Purpose of HB 1278 (81R-McClendon)
The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission’s review has indicated deficiencies in the administrative
operations of the Texas Public Safety Commission driver license bureau, and has made the
recommendation that the driver license functions administered by the Department of Public
Safety (DPS) be conducted as a business model, rather than entangling the driver license
procedures with law enforcement procedures. An independent study prepared in 2008 by
Deloitte Consulting LLP reached the same conclusion. According to the Sunset evaluation
reports, DPS presently has only 1,600 FTE’s who administer 256 driver license offices, and of
those only 220 are peace officers. These employees are charged with the responsibility of
managing over 16,000,000 drivers and handling over 6,000,000 driver license transactions
annually. Presently, Sec. 521.142 of the Transportation Code states that an applicant must state
whether they are or are not a citizen; however, the law does not require an applicant to establish
proof of citizenship in order to obtain a driver license. All drivers in Texas should be required to
establish who they are and where they currently reside, in addition to meeting the skill, vision,
fee and financial responsibility requirements for obtaining a driver license.
By amending Section 521.142(a) and Section 521.1421 of the Transportation Code, House Bill
1278 would address the Sunset Advisory Commission’s recommendations by requiring the DPS
driver license division to establish the identity and current residence of the applicant seeking a
driver license or a photo identification card. The Bill enumerates three types of documentation
that will satisfy these two requirements, in order to establish identity and current residence:
primary documentation, secondary documentation, or supporting documentation. Primary
documentation is that type which establishes both identity and current residence. Secondary
documentation establishes either identity or current residence, but not both in the same
document. Supporting documentation is similar to secondary documentation, but the reliability
of secondary documentation is stronger than that of the supporting documentation items.
It would be in keeping with the Sunset report recommendations to manage driver license
administration independently of the law enforcement function. Therefore, this Bill would
modify the Transportation Code in regard to provisions concerning DPS rule-making and
administration of the driver license functions of the agency. This approach is also in keeping
with the Sunset recommendations by disengaging the driver license administration from using
driver license and photo identification card applications as a law enforcement tool or as an
immigration law and policy enforcement device. DPS personnel have no statutory authorization
to interpret and apply federal immigration laws and regulations in order to assume this federal
function as part of the state agency’s responsibilities. This change in the law would also further
the interest of all Texas drivers and their passengers, by requiring that all persons who drive on
Texas roadways be duly licensed and made responsible for obtaining liability coverage.
However, as presently applied, agency rules have established administrative procedures which
exclude certain drivers from obtaining a license and accordingly not including them among
those drivers who must provide proof of liability insurance or financial responsibility.
CSHB 1278 differs from HB 1278, in that an offender identification card issued by the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) was listed in HB1278 under supporting documentation
to obtain a driver license or a photo identification card. CSHB 1278 would place the offender
identification card issued by TDCJ in the secondary documentation category, rather than under
the supporting documentation category. This is because it contains the person’s full name,
photo, and date of birth and is issued by a Texas agency.
