The sponsor of legislation to create driving privilege-only cards for undocumented immigrants — an issue hotly contested but overwhelmingly supported by lawmakers and backed by the governor — now says he's willing to have it repealed.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, told about 50 people at a meeting of the anti-illegal immigrant group Utah Minuteman Project that "he's not going to mount an attack" to get the bill repealed. But, Bramble said, if the House were to do so, he'll sponsor the repeal in the Senate.

Bramble's legislation replaced undocumented immigrants' state drivers' licenses with driving privilege cards that allowed them access to insurance but prohibited them from voting and other rights of citizenship that they didn't deserve.

"I think we are far better off today than we were with (illegal immigrant) drivers' licenses," Bramble said. "I don't think that the issue terminated or the issue concluded with the driving privilege card."

The driving privilege card, he said, can't be used to board an airplane, purchase a firearm, or to register to vote. However, Bramble told the Deseret Morning News that he's concerned about a "cottage industry" of mortgage lenders and other businesses accepting the driving privilege card as identification.

Rep. Glenn Donnelson, R-North Ogden, plans to sponsor the bill to repeal driving privileges for undocumented immigrants. Last session, he pulled a similar bill because of strong support for Bramble's compromise. Donnelson said he's not sure how much support he'll get this year.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s office wasn't aware of Donnelson's bill, said Mike Mower, the governor's deputy chief of staff and spokesman.

"We felt that last year's bill was a good compromise," Mower said.

House Majority Leader Jeff Alexander, R-Provo, said he also hadn't heard of Donnelson's bill, and said he has no sense of whether House leadership would get behind it.

However, he called the driving privilege card "an excellent compromise" between those who didn't want illegal immigrants to have an official government identification, and those who wanted them to be able to drive legally and obtain insurance.

Marco Diaz, chairman of the Utah Republican Hispanic Assembly, was among members of a Utah Hispanic Legislative Task Force, which was widely criticized for offering reluctant support of the measure as better than the alternative of no way to legally drive.

"We thought everyone was under the impression that this was a good compromise and we would not have to revisit this for a while," Diaz said. "We will oppose any measure to repeal the driving privilege card."

Diaz said he didn't regret supporting the measure, which still allows undocumented immigrants to drive with the proper training, testing and insurance. It also brought Utah into compliance with the new federal REAL ID Act which prevents drivers' licenses issued by states that license undocumented immigrants from being used for the purpose of federal identification.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com