A bill that would let the Department of Revenue and Taxation enter into driver‑license reciprocity agreements with foreign countries drew questions about fraud prevention, scope and rules for returning surrendered foreign licenses.

Senator Tina Rosemary Barnes presented Bill 99‑38 COR on June 11. Barnes said the measure would authorize DRT to “exchange their valid driver's licenses for a Guam license without the need for redundant ... testing,” noting similar programs exist in several U.S. states for licenses issued by Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

Marie Lizama, director of the Department of Revenue and Taxation, told the committee DRT already administers an existing process under Public Law 27‑48 for certain countries that allows foreign license holders to drive on Guam for up to 30 days, and to register with DRT for a year after payment of a $25 fee. Lizama warned the proposed bill is broader and would open reciprocity “to all foreign countries” except those designated on terrorist lists, which prompted concerns about fraud prevention and practical administration.

The bureau of budget and management research (BBMR) supplied a fiscal note showing DRT driver's license revenues for FY2020–FY2024 (FY20 $612,151; FY21 $704,404; FY22 $1,106,498; FY23 $958,872; FY24 $859,379) but said figures do not isolate fees from foreign nationals; BBMR said it could not estimate the fiscal impact without additional DRT data on volumes and cost estimates.

Art Menel from driver licensing described Guam’s current testing regimen: a 32‑hour classroom component plus 8 hours behind‑the‑wheel for drivers receiving Guam credentials. He told the committee the department must confirm applicants meet vision and medical requirements and that renewals trigger vision checks; DRT staff stressed those safeguards.

Committee members and DRT staff discussed several operational questions: whether reciprocity should be limited to nations with an on‑island consular presence to enable notarized translation and verification; whether surrendered foreign licenses would be returned to holders upon departure (DRT said the current practice for some countries is to retain application documents and, where applicable, stamp or retain parts of licenses); and how DRT would detect fraudulent documents. DRT said it uses certified abstracts and direct communications with issuing agencies (for example, requests to provincial licensing offices in the Philippines) to verify records and recommended consultation with the Guam Police Department on traffic incident statistics.

Senator Sean Gumitatao pointed to the FMCSA veteran program and other states’ selective reciprocity agreements as precedents and asked DRT to consider implementation details in rule‑making. DRT asked for time to provide written testimony with statistics on foreign‑issued licenses and recommended that the department’s authority to set “additional requirements” (fees, testing exceptions, or documentation) remain in the bill’s language so DRT can tailor agreements.

The committee did not take a vote. Members asked DRT to provide written follow‑up about the number of licenses issued to foreign nationals, recommended safeguards against fraud, and examples of reciprocity agreements used by other U.S. jurisdictions. The hearing record will be updated with the requested materials for the committee’s markup stage.