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Final Vote Thursday on Driver’s Licenses for All
Posted on Feb 28 2023
February 28, 2023—On Thursday, March 2 at 3:30 p.m., the Minnesota House of Representatives is scheduled for a floor session, where the House will vote to formally concur with the Senate amendments on the Driver’s Licenses for All Bill (HF4). The House will take two votes: the first to approve the Senate amendments and the second to re-pass the bill with the amendments. After these votes, the bill will be sent to the governor’s desk for his signature. The House is expected to accept the amendments and re-pass the bill, and the governor is expected to sign it.
“The struggle for Driver’s Licenses for All has lasted two decades,” said ILCM Executive Director Veena Iyer. “In 2003, the governor unilaterally revoked the right of all Minnesotans – regardless of immigration status – to obtain a driver’s license so long as they passed the written and skills tests and obtained insurance. We are on the cusp of restoring that right.”
On January 30, Driver’s Licenses for All passed the Minnesota House of Representatives by a 69-60 vote. On February 22, the bill passed the Minnesota Senate by a 34-31 vote. The final step before the bill reaches the governor’s desk is the House concurrence because the bill language passed by the Senate differed slightly from the bill language passed by the House.
Currently, eighteen states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico allow residents to access driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status. Learn more about how those states have benefitted through ILCM’s Fact Sheet on Driver’s Licenses.
Issuing licenses without proof of immigration status would not only benefit immigrants, but also the elderly, those experiencing homelessness, and other groups who may have difficulty obtaining hard-to-access documentation.