Tightened driver's cards gets preliminary Senate approval

The Senate on Thursday gave preliminary approval to a bill to tighten restrictions on undocumented immigrants' tickets to drive.

Before the 26-0 vote on Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said HB171 may be amended before final approval to add more restrictions.

A Senate panel recently approved HB171, while voting down an alternative bill that would have revoked the cards. Bramble is Senate sponsor of both measures.

"You have to pass a driving test to get the card," Bramble said. "It provides a mechanism for insurance ... It does maintain some semblance of a database of individuals in our community who don't have Social Security numbers."

The bill would clarify that driving privilege cards can't be used as age verification for purposes such as buying beer, and it would suspend the cards of uninsured drivers.

Bramble suggested the bill might be amended to also make it so that drivers wouldn't be issued temporary cards, but would have to wait for the cards to arrive in the mail.