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Joint committee adopts wording "not a US citizen" for ID cards
Summary
A joint legislative committee voted by voice to adopt House wording requiring the phrase “not a US citizen” on driver credentials; YDOT staff recommended placing the designation on the back of the card and said Real ID status is not a citizenship marker.
A joint committee meeting adopted the House wording to place the phrase “not a US citizen” on driver credentials and approved the change by a voice vote.
The matter matters because the wording and placement will determine how election workers and law-enforcement view an individual’s credential and affects roughly 9,000–10,000 noncitizen residents who hold either temporary or permanent lawful-status credentials, according to agency testimony.
Taylor Rossetti, deputy director at YDOT, told the panel there is a space on the back of the card that "does not share any real estate with anybody" and that the back location would reproduce clearly: "There's plenty of room there to put in the text of not a US citizen in a bold font that would stick out from the other information that's on the back of the card." Rossetti also said Real ID eligibility is a marker of lawful presence, not citizenship: "Real ID isn't a citizenship designator. What it is, is its lawful presence in the country."
Rossetti said YDOT expects implementation costs tied to printing changes to be in the tens of thousands of dollars (he estimated roughly $65,000–$67,000), and noted the back of the card is consistent for holders whether they are over or under 21. He described security and layout constraints on both faces of the card and said placing the short phrase on the back avoids interfering with information used for driving enforcement.
Representative Yin moved to adopt the House wording as presented (placing the phrase as shown in the department’s mockup); the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. Committee members discussed but did not vote on color or other design specifics; those choices were described by YDOT as design and rule-making matters outside the bill’s specific text.
The committee’s action resolves the textual disagreement between the chambers on the engrossed Senate file by accepting the House wording and passed the item before moving to the next bill on the agenda.
