{"id":4672,"date":"2015-02-22T12:42:17","date_gmt":"2015-02-22T17:42:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedustininmansociety.com\/blog\/?p=4672"},"modified":"2015-02-22T18:54:40","modified_gmt":"2015-02-22T23:54:40","slug":"4672","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2015\/02\/22\/4672\/","title":{"rendered":"SB 6 Georgia bill to stop illegal aliens from getting a Georgia drivers license – news item!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marietta Daily Journal<\/em><\/p>\n

Page A-1<\/p>\n

Bill would alter driver\u2019s license provision in Ga.<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Ricky Leroux<\/p>\n

February 22, 2015<\/p>\n

ATLANTA \u2014 Supporters of a bill in the Georgia Senate say it would prevent those who have entered the country illegally from gaining a driver\u2019s license, while opponents call the bill discriminatory.<\/p>\n

Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) said he filed Senate Bill 6 to clarify residency requirements to get a driver\u2019s license. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat made me want to file it is I learned that under current Georgia law that illegal immigrants are entitled to receiving a Georgia driver\u2019s license,\u201d McKoon said. \u201cI was shocked and dismayed that our law would allow for that and felt that we needed to make a change, particularly in light of the president\u2019s most recent deferred action, which from the estimates that I\u2019ve seen \u2014 conservative estimates \u2014 would place an additional 100,000 illegal immigrants in an eligibility status for a Georgia driver\u2019s license.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKoon is referring to President Barack Obama\u2019s executive actions to shield certain immigrants from deportation, which the president issued in November. Those executive actions were temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Texas this week, but the White House has said it will appeal the judge\u2019s ruling.<\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s decision does not change McKoon\u2019s resolve to pass his bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is incredibly important for us to move forward because the federal judge has given us some breathing room,\u201d McKoon said. \u201cHe\u2019s given us time to get this law in place, but there\u2019s no guarantee that that decision\u2019s not going to be reversed in days, weeks or months to come. Now is the time to act. We need to stand up for the people of this state and make it clear that we\u2019re not issuing benefits to those who have broken our laws and are here illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n

McKoon said the bill would change residency requirements to get a driver\u2019s license from \u201clawfully present\u201d to \u201clawful status,\u201d which he said would not allow those who entered the country illegally from getting licenses even if the executive actions are implemented.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorgia law currently says that you must be lawfully present \u2014 you have to have a lawful presence in the state to qualify for a driver\u2019s license. Most of what Senate Bill 6 does has to do with changing lawful presence to lawful status,\u201d McKoon said. \u201cThat would fix the problem because even if the president orders deferred action, that does not confer lawful status upon individuals who are in the country illegally.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill is in the Senate Public Safety Committee, chaired by Sen. Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe requested a hearing several weeks ago, and we have not been granted a hearing,\u201d McKoon said. \u201cBut we continue to be hopeful that Chairman Harper will schedule it for a hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

At a hearing, supporters of the bill would provide evidence and testimony on why the bill is necessary. Then, the committee would need to vote to move the bill forward, McKoon said. The bill would then go before the Senate Rules Committee, he said, which decides what bills go to the Senate floor for a full vote.<\/p>\n

McKoon said he hasn\u2019t been given a reason why a hearing has not taken place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really have not heard anything. We submitted a letter requesting a hearing. We have made repeated requests for a hearing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, McKoon is hopeful, saying 12 other Republican senators have signed on to the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a long time ago you don\u2019t make predictions, but I certainly continue to be hopeful that we\u2019ll get the opportunity to make our case,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Sen. Bruce Thompson (R-White), who represents a portion of north Cobb between interstates 75 and 575, is one of the co-sponsors of the bill. Thompson said the bill simply defines \u201cwho can actually get licenses within our state because once you get a driver\u2019s license, that opens you up to so many other benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson said the bill is necessary because of the uncertainty surrounding Obama\u2019s executive actions on immigration.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, with the action that our federal government is taking granting certain segments of the population immigration status here, if we don\u2019t define within our state what it takes to be able to get a driver\u2019s license, then we\u2019ve opened Pandora\u2019s box,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not seeking to restrict as much as it\u2019s seeking to define who\u2019s qualified within our state to be able to get a driver\u2019s license and be on the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Hunter Hill (R-Smyrna), who represents Smyrna, Cumberland and Vinings, said he has some issues with the bill, but supports the concept. <\/p>\n

Hill said portions of the bill would also apply \u201cto current foreigners getting a temporary license that are here legally. And a lot of them are contributing members of our society in terms of business executives with Mercedes and UPS and Coca-Cola and other companies, and we wouldn\u2019t want to burden everybody when we\u2019re trying to just make it so the vast majority of illegals don\u2019t get a driver\u2019s license.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hill said if those changes are made, he would vote to pass the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody\u2019s on the same page for not making the law cumbersome for legal residents, but also not allowing illegal residents, those here illegally, to have a government document that suggests that they are here legally.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Sen. Horacena Tate (D-Atlanta), who represents the Mableton area in south Cobb, said she would not vote for the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe spend too much time trying to be discriminatory to people,\u201d Tate said. \u201cIt\u2019s an attack on deferred immigration status for people who are here, supporting our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tate said the bill hurts people who are in the country trying to work and contribute.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we allow them to have driver\u2019s licenses, then that means they\u2019re paying insurance. They can get jobs, can get to work. And they can be contributing members of our community \u2014 which is what we want \u2014 and spend their money here. So let\u2019s not be discriminatory in what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill is not good for Georgia, Tate concluded.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, we\u2019re going about discriminating and causing economic hardship on some of our Georgia citizens,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce again, it goes back to \u2014 which is what I\u2019ve been saying \u2014 we keep doing things for the select few and not what\u2019s good for all of Georgia. I look at this bill in its present status as being one that does that. In its present status, I would not support the bill.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – Bill would alter driver s license provision in Ga http:\/\/mdjonline.com\/view\/full_story\/26483785\/article-Bill-would-alter-driver-s-license-provision-in-Ga-?instance=home_top_bullets&sp-tk=62B35016937073DDFEB2144FB950C7F8A447A3CED1EEB26C4903127F80BA27785CDDD25C6DBF0BE0CE1228B3F2918E20E05E9BC64F467C554246D39B27B655B8595A4A125B51C6C08E81A97BA2CF839FB46E9FEE9203AAEAE503415D469D71C80A9E8EDF5B9815442857B81419C561305CD714AE28538FEFC67EE08CF7C80039E487EAE74A257D8DF1DE4C7483207A16205804A3C55B4591DE74E27BBB0321E31337A90F<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marietta Daily Journal Page A-1 Bill would alter driver\u2019s license provision in Ga. by Ricky Leroux February 22, 2015 ATLANTA \u2014 Supporters of a bill in the Georgia Senate say it would prevent those who have entered the country illegally from gaining a driver\u2019s license, while opponents call the bill discriminatory. Sen. Josh McKoon (R-Columbus) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}