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Senate advances bill to mark non‑U.S. citizens on driver IDs; debate centers on privacy and cost of color coding
Summary
Senate File 33 — which would print a ‘not a U.S. citizen’ designation on certain identification cards — advanced from the Committee of the Whole after debate over whether the marking helps election judges and whether a proposed color change (which could cost roughly $250,000) is necessary or raises privacy concerns.
Senate File 33 advanced from the Committee of the Whole on Jan. 20 after floor discussion of text and implementation details. The bill would add a notation on certain state identification documents to indicate the holder is not a U.S. citizen. Sponsors said the aim is to help election judges quickly identify non‑citizen ID holders and avoid improper voting attempts; opponents argued the change risks exposing personal immigration status for many routine transactions and that documenting such a status on a commonly carried ID raises privacy and civil‑liberties concerns.
The committee considered and rejected a standing committee amendment that would have shortened the language on the card (from “not a United States citizen” to “not US”) and also change the card’s banner color. Department testimony to the committee estimated adding a new color banner for the ID card system could cost roughly $250,000 to implement because it would add an additional production stream for a small subgroup (testimony cited roughly 9,000 affected cards out of nearly 488,000 total cards in the system). Sponsors said the textual shorthand would still be clear to poll workers and avoids the added expense.
Supporters argued the change is a narrow, election‑administration measure; critics said it is unnecessary because voter registration already requires citizenship verification before a person is added to the rolls, and that adding the label to a widely used identification could invite discrimination. Division was called on the committee recommendation; the Committee of the Whole ultimately reported the bill do pass and it will proceed to the Senate floor for further consideration.
Key figures from floor debate (committee testimony cited): roughly 9,000 cards would be affected out of approximately 488,000 total state driver’s licenses and ID cards; the color‑change cost estimate for the system was cited at about $250,000.
