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September 4, 1998

The Honorable Newt Gingrich
2428 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-1006

Dear Speaker Gingrich:

On behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), I am writing to call your attention to a preliminary regulation issued by the United States Department of Transportation that implements Section 656(b) of the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform Act (Fed Reg. 23 CFR Part 1331; June 17, 1998). This section requires states to include social security numbers on driver's licenses and to verify those numbers with the Social Security Administration. The law and subsequent proposed rule preempt state authority, impose administrative burdens on states, are in direct violation of the Unfunded Mandate Reform Act (UMRA) of 1994 and raise privacy concerns. NCSL urges each member of Congress to examine the proposed rule and the violating section of law and join the nation's state legislators in calling for a repeal of Section 656(b) of the law.

NCSL's comments on the proposed rule clearly demonstrate that the law and preliminary regulation violate UMRA. The actual cost of compliance with the law and the regulation far exceeds the $100 million threshold established by UMRA. In addition, the regulation itself violates UMRA in the following ways:

1. The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) failed to consult with state elected officials as required in Title II of UMRA when writing the regulation and preparing the cost estimate for the regulation.
2. The Preliminary Regulatory Evaluation containing the cost estimate is flawed. The estimated costs are based on a five-state survey with limited assumptions and are therefore grossly underestimated.

Because the DOT has been inundated with controversial comments, it has extended the comment period for the proposed rule to October 2, 1998. We encourage you to submit your comments to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, urging that the cost estimate for implementation be recalculated to represent actual and not speculative costs and that state elected officials be consulted in the process.

While NCSL believes that the DOT exceeded the Congressional intent of Section 656(b) in the proposed rule, it is not the regulation that is truly at issue. The DOT, to a great extent, only followed what it was directed to do by statute. The problem stems from the section of law on which the preliminary regulation is based. Because an effort to remedy the regulation would be futile given the scope of the law, the only resolution is to repeal Section 656(b). It is the law itself that constitutes implementation of that section of law. NCSL therefore urges this Congress to repeal Section 656(b) of the 1996 Immigration Reform Act that explicitly espouses federal preemption of state authority and imposes an unfunded mandate on states.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and are available to discuss these issues in further detail at your request. Please contact Dawn Levy, NCSL Transportation Committee Director, or Sheri Steisel, NCSL Human Services Senior Committee Director, at 202/624-5400 if you have any additional questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Daniel T. Blue, Jr.
Senior House Minority Member
North Carolina
President
National Conference of State Legislatures

State Federal Relations

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