On Wednesday, Feb. 22, the Democrats’ Driver’s Licenses for All bill passed out of the Senate with party-line votes. During the extensive floor debate, Senate Republicans proposed key amendments highlighting the lack of safeguards in the bill and how it will make Minnesota susceptible to abuse and fraud. The Senate majority, however, accepted none of the Republican proposals.

Senator Gene Dornink (R-Brownsdale) released the following statement:

I am supportive of the Driver’s Licenses for All concept and its intent to make our roads safer. What I find problematic is that a non-citizen’s license will be indistinguishable from that of a legal Minnesota resident. Our driver’s licenses are used in a number of official capacities, and the Driver’s Licenses for All bill is an open door to bad actors.

There is another Democrat bill working its way through committee that seeks to tie automatic voter registration to a driver’s license application. When this proposal is combined with the Driver’s Licenses for All legislation, Minnesota’s elections will be significantly compromised. Senate Republicans sought to address this issue by requiring the license to indicate that it’s solely for driving privileges and not for voting usage. The Democrat majority, however, refused to accept this simple fix and work across the aisle.