HB 455-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
03/05
HOUSE BILL 455-FN
AN ACT authorizing optional enhanced drivers’ licenses and optional enhanced nondrivers’ picture identification cards.
SPONSORS: Rep. Bulis, Graf 1; Rep. Case, Rock 1; Rep. Gionet, Graf 3; Rep. Weyler, Rock 8; Rep. D. Reed, Merr 2; Sen. Gallus, Dist 1; Sen. Carson, Dist 14
This bill authorizes optional enhanced drivers’ licenses and optional enhanced nondrivers’ picture identification cards.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0264
03/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT authorizing optional enhanced drivers’ licenses and optional enhanced nondrivers’ picture identification cards.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subparagraph; Collection Biometric Data Prohibited; Exceptions. Amend RSA 260:10-b, II by inserting after subparagraph (c) the following new subparagraph:
(d) The taking, use, and retention of facial images and signatures required for an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card under RSA 263:1-d.
2 Nondriver’s Picture Identification Card; Fee. Amend RSA 260:21, V to read as follows:
V. The fee for such card shall be $10 and is not refundable, except that no fee shall be charged to any person who, for reason of health or age, turns in his driver’s license before the expiration date of such license. For purposes of this section, reasons of age shall be deemed to apply only to those persons over age 65. An enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall be issued pursuant to RSA 263:1-d only after payment of an additional fee of $30, which shall not be subject to the provisions of RSA 260:22.
3 New Section; Enhanced Drivers’ Licenses and Identification Cards. Amend RSA 263 by inserting after section 1-c the following new section:
263:1-d Enhanced Drivers’ Licenses and Identification Cards.
I. The department may enter into a memorandum of understanding with any federal agency for the purpose of obtaining approval of an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card as proof of identity and citizenship for persons entering the United States at land and sea ports.
II.(a) The department may issue an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card to an applicant who provides satisfactory proof of his or her full legal name, United States citizenship, identity, date of birth, social security number, and residence address, a photographic identity document, and any other documents that may be required by the responsible federal agency.
(b) An applicant may choose to apply for a standard driver’s license or standard nondriver’s picture identification card or an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card.
(c) An enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall include reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized disclosure of personal information regarding residents of this state that is contained in the enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card.
(d) An enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card may include radio frequency identification technology that is limited to a randomly assigned number which shall be encrypted if agreed to by the Department of Homeland Security, and does not include biometric data. The department shall ensure that the radio frequency identification technology is secure from unauthorized data access and includes reasonable security measures to protect against unauthorized disclosure of personal information. An applicant shall be required to sign a declaration acknowledging his or her understanding of the radio frequency identification technology before he or she is issued an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card.
(e) The requirements of this section are in addition to the requirements otherwise imposed on individuals who apply for a standard driver’s license or standard nondriver’s picture identification card.
(f) All laws applicable to the holder of a standard driver’s license shall apply to the holder of an enhanced driver’s license issued under this section.
(g) The issuance of an enhanced driver’s license shall not negate or cancel any actions pending against an applicant’s driver’s license at the time of issuance.
(h) The issuance of an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall not modify the expiration date of a standard driver’s license or standard nondriver’s picture identification card.
III.(a) An applicant who chooses to apply for an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall provide all of the following items to the department in the manner prescribed by the department:
(1) A completed application indicating the applicant’s full legal name, any legal name change resulting from the applicant’s adoption, marriage, divorce, or a court order, date of birth, residence address, height, gender, eye color, social security number, signature, and, if applicable, the applicant’s intention to be an organ donor as provided under RSA 291-A.
(2) Documentation demonstrating the applicant’s United States citizenship, full legal name, any legal name change resulting from the applicant’s adoption, marriage, divorce, or a court order, date of birth, residence address, and social security number.
(3) The applicant’s signed certification that the information presented by the applicant is true and correct to the best of the applicant’s knowledge.
(4) The fee prescribed under RSA 263:42, I or RSA 260:21, V.
(b) An applicant who applies for an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall have his or her facial image and signature captured or reproduced by the department at the time of application. A person’s facial image or signature may be made available by this state and used as follows:
(1) By a federal, state, or local government agency for any law enforcement purpose authorized by law.
(2) By another state to the extent required by federal law.
(3) By the department for any purpose specifically authorized by law.
(4) For any other purpose as determined by the department, if a person provides his or her written authorization for the release of his or her own facial image or signature.
(5) As otherwise required by law.
(c) Except as otherwise provided under subparagraph (b), the department shall not disclose a person’s facial image, signature, social security number, or copies or digital images of documents retained under this section.
(d) An enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card issued under this section shall not display a person’s social security number on the face of the card.
(e) The department shall examine and verify the genuineness, regularity, and legality of every application and other documentation submitted to the department for an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card, and may in all cases investigate as the department considers necessary or require additional information, and shall reject any application if not satisfied of the genuineness, regularity, and legality of the application or supporting documentation or the truth of any statement contained in the application or supporting documentation, or for any other reason authorized by law. A decision by the department to reject an application under this subsection may be appealed under RSA 541.
(f) The department shall retain copies or digital images of documents provided by the applicant to the department under this section.
(g) The facial image of an applicant for a license or card under this section who was not issued an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card shall be retained for not less than one year, unless fraud is suspected, in which case a record containing the applicant’s facial image and the reason for denial shall be retained for not less than 10 years.
(h) The department may disclose digital images of documents retained under this section to a federal, state, or local government agency for any law enforcement purpose authorized by law. Except as otherwise provided in this section, copies or digital images of documents retained under this section are exempt from disclosure under the right-to-know law, RSA 91-A.
(i) The department shall not compile or maintain a database under this section that may be shared with a country other than the United States.
IV. A person who makes a false certification or statement in applying for an enhanced driver’s license or enhanced nondriver’s picture identification card is guilty of a class B felony.
4 Driver’s License Fees. Amend RSA 263:42, I to read as follows:
I. For each original driver’s license and examination or driver’s license renewal, other than for a commercial vehicle or motorcycle- $50; for each enhanced driver’s license- $80; for each enhanced driver’s license modification to an existing driver’s license without a change in expiration date- $30; for each youth operator’s license and examination- $10 per year, not to exceed $50; for each license issued to a nonresident alien for less than 5 years- $10 per year or portion thereof; for each original commercial driver license and examination or commercial driver license renewal- $60; for each commercial driver license reexamination in a one-year period- $20; for each commercial vehicle endorsement, renewal of an endorsement, or removal of a restriction- $10; for each special motorcycle original license and examination or special motorcycle license renewal- $50; for each original motorcycle endorsement- $25; for each motorcycle endorsement renewal- no charge. For each original driver’s license issued, $5 shall be credited to the driver training fund established by RSA 263:52. Except as provided in RSA 263:14 and RSA 263:39-a, III, every license shall expire on the licensee’s birth date in the fifth year following the issuance of such license. No fee collected under this paragraph shall be refunded once an examination has been taken or a license issued, except as provided in RSA 263:43.
5 Driver’s License Fees; Duplicates. Amend RSA 263:42, IV to read as follows:
IV. A duplicate copy of a photographic license or a new license with a different classification because of a commercial driver license disqualification may be issued for a fee of $10. A duplicate copy of an enhanced driver’s license may be issued for a fee of $40. For the purpose of this chapter, the term “duplicate copy” shall mean an additional license containing an indicator that the license is a duplicate. A new photograph need not be taken.
6 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.
LBAO
11-0264
Revised 09/28/11
HB 455 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT authorizing optional enhanced drivers’ licenses and optional enhanced nondrivers’ picture identification cards.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety states this bill will increase state highway fund revenue by $410,415 in FY 2013 and $820,830 in FY 2014 and each year thereafter, and increase state highway fund expenditures by $331,781 in FY 2013, $403,697 in FY 2014, and $459,996 in FY 2015. The Judicial Council, Department of Corrections, and the New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2012 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or county and local revenue.
The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is awaiting information from the Judicial Branch relative to the potential fiscal impact of this bill as amended. The Department was initially contacted on 01/19/11 and most recently contacted on 06/12/11.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety states this bill authorizes enhanced drivers’ licenses and enhanced non-drivers’ picture identification cards. The Department assumes that the implementation of the enhanced identification card program would coincide with the Department’s implementation of its new comprehensive computer system. If that were not to be the case, implementation expenditures would increase above those estimated below by at least an additional $1,000,000 annually. The Department estimates it issues approximately 210,469 licenses and non-driver identification cards annually, and of those issued cards each year, the Department assumes 6,314 (210,469 x 3%) would opt to upgrade their existing identification cards and 21,047 (210,469 x 10%) would request an enhanced identification card during their typical renewal process, for a total of 27,361 enhanced identification cards being issued in a given year. At an additional charge per customer of $30 for an enhanced identification card, the Department estimates additional annual highway fund revenue of $410,415 during FY 2013 ($30 x 23,361 cards x 0.5 year), as the program is assumed to begin January 1, 2013, and $820,830 ($30 x 27,361 cards) per year thereafter. On the cost side, the Department assumes there will be a one-time programming cost during the first year of the program to incorporate the enhanced identification cards into its computer system, for an increase in highway fund expenditure of $131,250 (750 hours x $175/hour) in FY 2013. The Department also assumes there will be an ongoing annual fee of $50,000 to participate in the information sharing required to maintain the enhanced cards, as well as an incremental production cost per card above and beyond that of the standard identification cards totaling annually $191,527 ($7 per card incremental cost x 27,361 cards), although that cost in the first year will be half of the annual amount, or $95,763. The Department also estimates the institution of such a program will also require the hiring of 2.5 full-time equivalent counter clerk positions (labor grade 9), for a total salary and benefit cost of $54,768 in FY 2013 (half year), $112,920 in FY 2014, and $119,970 in FY 2015. The final component of the cost impact to the state relates to the highway fund block grant aid program under RSA 235:23, which is calculated at 12% of certain prior year highway fund revenue sources. As a result, state highway fund expenditures will increase by $49,250 (12% x $410,415) in FY 2014 and by $98,499 (12% x $820,830) in FY 2015, with a corresponding increase in local revenues. See the summary of the state impact below:
FY 2013 FY 2014 FY 2015
Highway fund revenue $410,415 $820,830 $820,830
Highway fund expenditures
Programming cost $131,250 $0 $0
Information sharing fee $50,000 $50,000 $50,000
Incremental production cost $95,763 $191,527 $191,527
Salary & Benefit (2.5 FTE) $54,768 $112,920 $119,970
Increase in local block grant $0 $49,250 $98,499
Highway expenditures total $331,781 $403,697 $459,996
The Judicial Council states this bill makes it a class B felony for individuals applying for enhanced identification cards to make false certifications or statements, so it may result in an indeterminable increase in general fund expenditures. The Council states if an individual is found to be indigent, the flat fee of $756 per felony is charged by a public defender or contract attorney. If an assigned counsel attorney is used the fee is $60 per hour with a cap of $4,100 for a felony charge. The Council also states additional costs could be incurred if an appeal is filed. The public defender, contract attorney and assigned counsel rates for Supreme Court appeals is $2,000 per case, with many assigned counsel attorneys seeking permission to exceed the fee cap. Requests to exceed the fee cap are seldom granted. Finally, expenditures would increase if services other than counsel are requested and approved by the court during the defense of a case or during an appeal.
The Department of Corrections states it is not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill because it does not have sufficient detail to predict the number of individuals who would be subject to this legislation. The Department of Corrections states the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 was $32,492. The cost to supervise an individual by the Department’s division of field services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010 was $659.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent an individual is prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration, the counties may have increased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who might be detained, prosecuted or incarcerated as a result of this bill. The average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in a county correctional facility is approximately $35,000.
The Department of Justice states the any increase in workload created as a result of this bill could be absorbed within existing Department resources.