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Law

Legislature considers two-tier driver's license system

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-953854.mp3

A two-tier driver's license system is getting traction in the legislature. This is how it would work: applicants who provide a valid social security number would get a regular license. Drivers who can't prove they are in this country legally would get an alternative version.

Mary Margaret Haugen is a Democrat and chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. She's waded into a heated debate over illegal immigrants getting driver's licenses.

Haugen abruptly adjourned a recent legislative hearing after opponents interrupted testimony.

Critics say social security or citizenship checks will lead to more unlicensed and uninsured drivers. So Senator Haugen has proposed a compromise similar to a bipartisan proposal in the State House.

Applicants who can't prove they're in this country legally would still get a license. But it would be stamped "not valid for identification purposes."

"We heard a lot of people say they wouldn't be able to get a license so they can't get insurance. We don't want that so we provided a second tier," says Haugen.

This is similar to the system in Utah. But opponents aren't satisfied. Groups like OneAmerica warn that undocumented immigrants won't bother to get a license if the version they're issued signals they're here illegally.

Since January 2004, Austin Jenkins has been the Olympia-based political reporter for the Northwest News Network. In that position, Austin covers Northwest politics and public policy as well as the Washington State legislature. You can also see Austin on television as host of TVW's (the C–SPAN of Washington State) Emmy-nominated public affairs program "Inside Olympia." Prior to joining the Northwest News Network, Austin worked as a television reporter in Seattle, Portland and Boise. Austin is a graduate of Garfield High School in Seattle and Connecticut College in New London, Connecticut. Austin’s reporting has been recognized with awards from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors, Public Radio News Directors Incorporated and the Society of Professional Journalists.