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Committee advances bill requiring gender on licenses match birth or federal identity documents
Summary
Senators approved a bill that specifies the sex designation on a driver's license must come from official documents such as a birth certificate, amended birth certificate, passport or DHS identification.
Senator Blake Johnson of Corning presented a bill to the committee clarifying how a person's sex designation is determined for Arkansas driver's licenses. He said the designation would be drawn from an original or amended birth certificate, a passport, or an identification document issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Committee members asked whether the proposal reacted to an earlier administrative practice at the Department of Finance & Administration; Senator Johnson said that practice had not been explicitly authorized or prohibited previously and that the bill makes the source documents explicit.
A voice vote advanced the bill with no public opposition recorded in the committee hearing. Senator Johnson moved to pass and Senator Stone seconded.
The committee did not provide further statutory citations in its remarks during the meeting; the sponsor told members the bill simply clarifies the documents the state will use to determine the designation that appears on the license.
