Ritter tosses driver’s license bill

Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News

Friday, June 1, 2007

Gov. Bill Ritter today vetoed six bills, including a measure that critics said would have made it easier for illegal immigrants to obtain a Colorado driver’s license.

Ritter said it is up to the administration and not the legislature to fix problems at the Division of Motor Vehicles, which last year adopted such stringent rules that legitimate Coloradans were unable to get driver’s licenses or photo ID cards.

Ritter said the state on Thursday formally adopted new rules that expand the types of documents the state will accept in order to issue a driver’s license but don’t compromise security.

The governor also nixed a bill sealing some criminal convictions, and a bill requiring anyone using the designation "registered interior decorator" to first register with the state.

Ritter, who took office in January, has vetoed eight bills so far this session. Five of those bills were sponsored by fellow Democrats, who control the legislature.

Republicans in recent weeks have ripped Ritter for not vetoing more bills, clearly forgetting that GOP Gov. Bill Owens vetoed only five bills in his first year in office, in 1999. All were sponsored by his own party, which controlled the legislature at the time.

Monday is the deadline for Ritter to act on measures passed by the legislature. He signed several bills on Friday, including a measure that allows Colorado voters to register once as permanent mail-in voters. Currently, voters had to regularly request mail-in ballots for each election.

House Bill 1313 would have made it it easier to get a Colorado driver’s license by expanding the list of documents a person could use to prove residency and citizenship.

Supporters said the bill was necessary because the DMV has made it difficult for lawful citizens — especially the homeless, senior citizens and children of immigrants born in the country — to obtain a license or photo ID.

But critics, including Republican Secretary of State Mike Coffman and former Democratic Gov. Dick Lamm, urged Ritter to veto the measure. They said it undercut efforts to curb illegal immigration, identity theft and terrorist threats.

"I think the governor absolutely made the right move in vetoing it," Coffman said.

But he said his concern now is making sure that the rules the state approved Thursday don’t go to far.

Rep. Rosemary Marshall, D-Denver, who sponsored House Bill 1313, was disheartened by the veto.

"I’m extremely disappointed that the anti-immigration zealots managed to get their voices heard over the citizens of Colorado," she said.

Ritter said he understood why legislators and others pushed for House Bill 1313. And he blamed his own adminstration for not "clearly and consistently articulating my strongly-held belief that a legislative fix is not the proper remedy to this problem."

Here’s a look at the other bills Ritter vetoed. To read the veto messages, go to www.colorado.gov/governor

- Senate Bill 84, bipartisan sponsored: Requires a state board to maintain a database of all persons registering as interior designers in the state, and allows only those included in the database to use the term "registered interior designer."

-Senate Bill 237, bipartisan sponsored: Modifies notice requirements for mineral estate owners when a surface developer submits an application for surface development to a local government.

-House Bill 1107, Democratic sponsored: Expands the ability to petition the court to seal criminal convictions and arrests.

-House Bill 1216, Democrat sponsored: Involves rules involving the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and Medicaid.

-House Bill 1356, bi-partisan sponsors: Makes technical changes to the statutes governing lobbyist and campaign finance laws to conform with constitutional changes adopted under Amendment 41.