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Senator Manzella pushes driver’s-license ‘citizenship marker’; tribes and DMV flag costs and logistics
Summary
Sen. Theresa Manzella told the Finance and Claims Committee SB 91 would require a citizenship marker on Montana driver’s licenses and IDs, pointing to the new CARS system and the federal SAVE verification tool; a tribal representative and others opposed, citing at least $176,941 in design and programming costs and existing proof-of-citizenship requirements.
Senator Theresa Manzella told the Senate Finance and Claims Committee she is sponsoring Senate Bill 91 to require a citizenship marker on Montana driver licenses and identification cards, saying recent technology makes the change practical. “We have the new CARS system that makes this possible,” Manzella said, and she cited the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program as an enabling tool.
The bill drew a mix of public comment and technical testimony. Proponents included a private commenter who spoke in favor. Department of Motor Vehicles staff answered detailed questions about the state’s Credentialing And Registration System (CARS) and how renewals and replacements would be handled. MV administrator Lori Bokhuri told the committee that when a person renews a license the renewal fee would include the citizenship marker and that an earlier replacement could be obtained for a fee (quoted in the fiscal-note discussion as $10.60). “When you renew your license … you would receive a citizenship marker when you renewed your license,” Bokhuri said during questioning.
Opponents included a representative speaking for the Blackfeet Tribe, the Chippewa Cree Tribe of Rocky Boy and Fort Belknap Indian Community, who described the proposal as “an excessive measure and a financial burden” and cited the fiscal note’s breakdown: $116,941 for image design and about $60,000 for programming and interface changes. The opponent also noted that current Montana driver-license rules already require proof of citizenship (passport, birth certificate, alien-registration card, or naturalization certificate) and urged a “do not pass.”
Committee members pressed DMV staff on timing and implementation. Senators asked whether existing licenses would require immediate replacement; Bokhuri responded that people would not be required to come in on the bill’s implementation date and that the marker would be issued at the next renewal to avoid overwhelming field offices. The sponsor closed by saying the CARS rollout makes the timing right to require a marker.
The committee paused this item for further internal discussion; no final Senate Finance and Claims vote on SB 91 is recorded in this transcript.
What happens next: The committee requested clearer line-item cost breakdowns (design versus code changes) and technical clarifications about implementation timing and fees before further action.
