Padilla defends rollout of Real ID system amid broad criticism
State Taxation and Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla Dec. 5 defended her department’s rollout of the state’s new two-tiered driver’s license system, which has been criticized by immigrant-rights groups, drivers and others as overreaching, confusing and frustrating.
Appearing before the Legislative Finance Committee, Padilla said implementation of the system, which began last month, has gone relatively smoothly when compared to what other states have experienced.
But some lawmakers said constituents have complained about having to make more than one trip to a Motor Vehicle Division office to obtain a driver’s license because of changes in required documentation under the new system.
Padilla acknowledged some MVD workers need to be “re-educated” about required documentation, and an MVD official said the average wait time to renew a driver’s license has nearly doubled since implementation of the new two-tiered driver’s license system.
Under the system, a New Mexico resident can obtain a Real ID-compliant driver’s license or a driver-authorization card.
The Real ID licenses eventually will be needed to board domestic air flights and for entering secured federal buildings, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. However, the department has been pushing back implementation of those requirements for more than 10 years.
Residents who don’t want or need a Real ID license can opt for the driver-authorization card. Immigrants without lawful status in this country can obtain only the driver-authorization card.
To get a Real ID license, a resident must provide proof of an identification number, such as a Social Security number; proof of identity and age, such as a passport or a birth certificate; and proof of residence, such as a utility bill, property tax bill, mortgage statement, bank statement or pay stub.
Democratic Sen. John Arthur Smith of Deming, who chairs the Legislative Finance Committee and was a sponsor of the law creating the new driver’s license system, told Padilla that one of his constituents complained that MVD wouldn’t accept his utility bill as proof of residence because it was the previous month’s bill, not the current bill.
Padilla said that should not have happened because the division can accept utility bills up to 60 days old.
Since the rollout of the two-tiered system last month, The New Mexican and other news organizations have interviewed driver’s license applicants who have run into similar problems when trying to renew their licenses.
Padilla said last month that the accusations of confusion and inefficiencies were unfair. She said greeters at MVD offices are quickly informing people of the new requirements for driving privileges as they arrive.
Sen. George Munoz, D-Gallup, said some of his constituents from the Navajo Nation could run into problems because many share post office boxes and some older Navajo people don’t have birth certificates.
Jerry Valdez, deputy director of MVD, said the division will be reaching out to Navajo chapter houses to help come up with solutions to verify the residency of license applicants.
Senate Republican Leader Stuart Ingle of Portales, another sponsor of the driver’s license law, said he’s worried he might run into trouble when he goes to renew his license because his birth certificate, passport and driver’s license have different variations of his name.
Stuart said his given first name is Cress but he’s never used it. His Social Security card, which was issued in the early 1960s, has his name as “Stuart Ingle,” while his passport says “Cress Stuart Ingle.”
Valdez told reporters that the average time it takes to get a driver’s license renewed has increased since the state began issuing the new licenses last month. Before the new licenses, the average wait was about 13 minutes. But now, Valdez said, it’s about 25 minutes.
Padilla said that in the months before the new licenses were rolled out, MVD worked hard to increase its efficiency in order to mitigate the extra time it would take to process the new licenses.
Padilla said the state has issued 19,512 Real ID licenses and more than 2,000 driver-authorization cards since the system was rolled out.
The new driver’s license law was a compromise reached this year by the Legislature and Gov. Susana Martinez, who had long fought to repeal a law that allowed illegal immigrants to obtain driving licenses.
The cost of a driver’s license has not gone up, Padilla said. It’s still $18.00 for a four-year license or $34.00 for an eight-year license. However, those applying for a driver-authorization card who don’t already have a valid New Mexico license must be fingerprinted, which adds an additional fee of $44.
Last month, Somos Un Pueblo Unido, an immigrant-rights organization that has been critical of the Martinez administration, said MVD was wrongly requiring all illegal immigrants to be fingerprinted to get the driver-authorization card. The group also said MVD was requiring immigrants whose licenses are expiring to submit documents to prove residency, even though that’s not mandated by state or federal law.
The Santa Fe New Mexican is a sister-paper of The Taos News. Contact Steve Terrell at 505-986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com.
