Assembly Votes Down License Law

The Assembly handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger his first legislative victory Monday, voting overwhelmingly to overturn a new law that would have given driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.

The bill to block the license law from taking effect in January passed 64-9 after brief debate and will probably be signed by Schwarzenegger this week.

Republicans who had been gathering signatures to ask voters to repeal the law in March said they would halt their campaign because their goal had been accomplished, and Latino advocacy groups pressed ahead with plans for an “economic boycott” to protest the expected repeal of the law.

“This will be the beginning phase in the movement of immigrants and our families to use economic tactics to secure our rights in California,” said Nativo Lopez, national president of both the Mexican American Political Assn. and Hermandad Mexicana, an immigrants rights group. He said those organizations were asking Latinos, immigrants and sympathizers to avoid work, schools and stores on Dec. 12 as a response to the repeal of SB 60.

Former Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat, signed the bill by Sen. Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) in the midst of a campaign to recall the governor from office. Schwarzenegger, the Republican who ousted Davis, demanded that the Legislature repeal the law. Schwarzenegger complained that it lacked strict enough background and identity checks to ensure that people weren’t getting driver’s licenses -- used to enter federal buildings and board airplanes -- under false pretenses.

The Cedillo bill would have allowed an illegal immigrant to get a driver’s license by showing a federal individual tax identification number and forms of identification other than a Social Security number. Current law requires license applicants to prove that they are legal residents of the state, typically with a Social Security card.

The Legislature imposed the legal status requirement on drivers in 1993 to prevent illegal immigrants from getting government benefits through the use of driver’s licenses. But for decades before 1993, illegal immigrants could get driver’s licenses in California.

Though Democrats dominate the Legislature and endorsed Cedillo’s bill just two months ago, they complied with Schwarzenegger’s demand for repeal. Polls indicate that the public opposes the bill by a strong majority, and Cedillo acknowledged that it probably wouldn’t have survived a referendum on the March ballot.

“The people have forced this Legislature to do the right thing,” said Assemblyman Dennis Mountjoy (R-Monrovia), “and it is an absolute shame it has come to this.” The license law originally passed without a single Republican vote in the Assembly or the Senate.

A bill by Sen. Rico Oller (R-San Andreas) to overturn the new law passed in the Senate last week on a 33-0 vote with no debate. Six Democrats chose not to vote and one Republican was absent. Debate lasted less than 30 minutes in the Assembly.

Because both houses passed the repeal bill by more than a two-thirds majority, it will take effect as soon as it is signed by Schwarzenegger.

Cedillo, who has been working since 1998 on legislation to allow illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses, said the governor has promised to work with him next year on another version of the bill. He told the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Monday that Schwarzenegger appreciated the highway safety reasons to license every driver, regardless of immigrant status. But the two have not discussed details, said Cedillo.

“We want to come back with a bill that I hope is bipartisan,” he said. “I believe that the governor, on this issue, pleasantly, is appreciative of the policy that everybody must and should be licensed.... The only guarantee is that he’s given me his word and that we will work to do that.”

Schwarzenegger called the Assembly vote “a great display of bipartisan cooperation” and said in a prepared statement that he hoped it was “a sign that politics-as-usual is on its way out.”

“I want to particularly thank Sen. Cedillo for standing with me and showing tremendous leadership,” said Schwarzenegger. “I look forward to working with Sen. Oller and the Latino Caucus on this issue in January during the regular legislative session to find a sensible solution to this issue.”

But any bill that gives driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants faces opposition from the California Republican Assembly, the group that gathered more than 400,000 signatures in the last two months to put a measure on the March ballot in case the Legislature failed to repeal Cedillo’s bill.

“We’ll just focus our efforts on stopping any bill next year and maybe doing an initiative,” said Mike Spence, president of the organization, the oldest volunteer group within the California Republican Party. He predicted that the Dec. 12 boycott called by proponents of SB 60 would be a “dismal failure.”

“I would prefer if Dec. 12 were a day when no one was coming here illegally, but I don’t think that will happen,” he said. “Unfortunately us taxpayers can’t go on strike for all the costs of illegal immigration.”

In the debate in the Assembly, Republicans reminded lawmakers that several of the terrorists involved in the September 2001 attacks showed driver’s licenses to board planes. They warned that allowing the Cedillo bill to become law would have caused security problems and rewarded people who broke immigration laws.

“Unfortunately, with a driver’s license in hand, terrorists are better able to blend into the population and avoid detection,” said Assemblyman John Benoit (R-Palm Desert). “This is not conjecture or speculation. It’s exactly what happened on 9/11.”

Several Democratic lawmakers expressed hope that Schwarzenegger would agree to a compromise measure next year. Experts estimate that 2 million illegal immigrants drive in California without licenses or insurance.

“I today am saddened that I have to vote to repeal this law,” said Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno). “I believe in this policy, I believe in those people, and I believe they have a right ... to work, to drive their kids to school.”

Nine Democrats voted against repeal in the Assembly: Wilma Chan of Alameda, Lou Correa of Anaheim, Mervyn Dymally of Compton, Jackie Goldberg of Los Angeles, Loni Hancock of Berkeley, John Longville of Rialto, Cindy Montanez of San Fernando, Juan Vargas of San Diego and Leland Yee of San Francisco.

Six other Democrats did not vote: Judy Chu of Monterey Park, Manny Diaz of San Jose, Sally Lieber of Mountain View, Gene Mullin of San Mateo, Gloria McLeod of Chino and Simon Salinas of Salinas.

A lone Republican, Rick Keene of Chico, chose not to vote on the bill.