Senator Brinkley Protects Senate Position On Legal Presence Through Budget Language 4-1-09

A budget amendment that would restrict the use of funds appropriated to the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) for issuing licenses to illegal immigrants was offered by Senator David R. Brinkley, R - Frederick & Carroll Counties, and adopted by a 27 to 20 vote of the Maryland Senate. 

Under the amendment, the MVA would be prohibited from expending any funds "for any purpose related to the issuance of a driver's license or personal identification card to an applicant who fails to provide documentation acceptable to the Administration that the applicant is lawfull present in the United States in accordance with federal law."

The budget language reinforces the position of the Senate to adhere to federal homeland security regulations concerning proof of legal presence as taken with the Senate's passage of Senate Bill 369 Vehicle Laws – Proof of Lawful Presence Act of 2009 (to view our prior post click here).

O'Malley Administration officials testified at the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee that they supported Senate Bill 369 and that they opposed efforts to amend the bill to create a two-tiered licensing system in Maryland because of questions as to whether a secondary licensing system would be federally compliant.

Yesterday, O'Malley himself reversed that position of his Administration in comments to the media made after at an appearance in Rockville in which he stated support for the two-tiered system.  (for the Washington Post coverage of the policy reversal click here).  During the 2008 session, O'Malley made a similar policy reversal in which he supported the legal presence legislation initially but then abandoned efforts for its passage mid-session.

Expressing frustration with the ever-changing Administration position, Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller, D - Prince George's & Calvert Counties, reconfirmed the unchanged Senate position through comments to Julie Bykowicz of The Baltimore Sun:  "Those people who committed fraud in obtaining licenses should not be able to renew them. That’s the Senate’s position."  (click here for the entire statement of the Senate President).