JACKSON — Out of a swath of immigration bills that died this session of the Wyoming Legislature, two bills survived that would impact drivers.
There were final sticking points that had to be dealt with Monday and Tuesday before the Senate and House came to an agreement. These were mediated and proposed laws were sent to the governor’s desk.
Gov. Mark Gordon has three days from the time he receives a bill to veto it while lawmakers are still in session.
On Tuesday morning, lawmakers hammered out what the final “Not U.S. Citizen” label would look like on the licenses of noncitizens in Wyoming with “lawful status” in Senate File 33.
A larger debate took place on Monday when the Senate weighed the possible impacts in House Bill 116 to insurance coverage and the Interstate Driver’s License Compact before invalidating driver’s licenses issued to undocumented immigrants in other states.
“I think it’s time that we stand, for the one time in four years that I’ve been here, with the administration that believes that unauthorized folks shouldn’t be in the country,” Sen. John Kolb, R-Rock Springs, argued in support of HB 116 on Monday. “I’m proud in this case to stand with the federal government.”
HB 116 was one of the top five priorities outlined by the Wyoming Freedom Caucus in the House before the start of the session, and deemed it an “immigration accountability” bill.
It passed out of the House 45-15-2.
Kolb defended the bill on the floor of the Senate before the upper chamber took its third reading vote. He said people who are undocumented in the U.S. shouldn’t be allowed to drive vehicles, and he pushed back against the arguments made by senators such as Majority Floor Leader Tara Nethercott, R-Cheyenne, about insurance.
She said voiding the licenses of undocumented immigrants in Wyoming could place their car insurance at risk. She said the reason that states did issue those driver’s licenses was to give noncitizens access to vehicle insurance. It would prevent people from paying out of pocket in an accident if they didn’t have uninsured motorist coverage.
“Buy an umbrella policy, do what you can to protect yourself and your family and take some personal responsibility,” Sen. Cheri Steinmetz, R-Lingle, said. “But we shouldn’t be letting illegal aliens drive around because we’re afraid that someone’s going to run into us without insurance.”
Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, who is chair of the Senate Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs, also warned the state may be in violation of the compact that says Wyoming will recognize other states’ licenses. He said Wyoming could lose access to a national license database.
“I don’t think that the bill accomplishes much other than puts us behind the curve when it comes to our law enforcement folks getting the data they need to enforce our laws,” Pappas said.
Neither of the issues stuck when it came to the majority of the Senate. HB 116 was passed on third reading, 22-8-1, and the House concurred, 52-6-4.
The only other immigration bill left is House Bill 133, another Wyoming Freedom Caucus bill that would outlaw sanctuary cities, counties and the state. It was passed out of the House on third reading 51-6-5.
