The motion prevailed.
Senator Moss’ statement is as follows:
I want to make some remarks on these bills and I know that extending drivers licenses that expire is not the sexiest topic in the world, but I’ve done a lot of research on this issue and I get five minutes to talk about it, so I’m going to take advantage of that.
These bills are actually really important to a lot of people in Michigan so I just wanted to talk about what we’re doing here today. The bills before us put the Governor’s executive order into law that extends the deadline of licenses and IDs that are going to expire during this COVID crisis.
This was an issue that was brought forward by the Secretary of State at the top of this crisis when all 131 of her branch offices were closed and there was no mechanism for someone whose ID was going to expire to renew it while the offices were closed. Her recommendation was either an executive order or to just ask the State Police not to enforce penalties against folks who have expiring deadlines.
I actually called all ten cities that I represent and asked their police departments to not enforce penalties against people who may be driving with an expired license. I also called the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State tipped me off that the Republican Representative over in the House from the 51st District in Genesee and Oakland counties also had the same concern, wanted to know what we could do about it, and what solution could be offered. So the three of us put our heads together and brought forward a bipartisan and bicameral solution to this problem. If the branch office systems go down—be it due to a health pandemic, a cyber-attack, or any other emergency—allow the Secretary of State to intervene and extend licenses and ID renewals. So we introduced Senate Bill Nos. 902 through 904 and House Bill Nos. 5755 through 5757.
Our bills make sure that we don’t have to address this issue continuously and continuously. These bills here today are important. They solve the problem right now. But for a future crisis that shuts down branch offices, we’re looking for a long-term solution. So I am pleased to support these bills today to get the process moving along, but as the majority has said many times throughout this crisis, we’re looking for bipartisan, deliberative solutions that all of us can embrace to get us out of this pandemic together and I think the remaining bills that we could tackle—Senate Bill Nos. 902 through 904—are worthy of consideration as well. So I extend my hand to the other side of the aisle with support for this package and looking forward to continuing to solve this issue with a bipartisan, bicameral solution that we have forthcoming as well.
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 877, entitled
A bill to amend 1972 PA 222, entitled “An act to provide for an official personal identification card; to provide for its form, issuance and use; to regulate the use and disclosure of information obtained from the card; to prescribe the powers and duties of the secretary of state; to prescribe fees; to prescribe certain penalties for violations; and to provide an appropriation for certain purposes,” by amending sections 2 and 9a (MCL 28.292 and 28.299a), section 2 as amended by 2018 PA 669 and section 9a as added by 2008 PA 32.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: