BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	S.B. 975
88R9039 AJZ-F	By: Men�ndez
	State Affairs
	3/24/2023
	As Filed

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Currently Texans that transition from holding a driver's license to a personal identification certificate (ID) find that their voter registration expires when they surrender their driver's license, this especially relates to seniors who are likely to surrender their driver's license after a certain age. Many Texans may not realize that their voter registration expired when they switched IDs, causing them to be turned away when they go to the polls. 

S.B. 975 requires that persons issued a personal identification certificate be provided a voter registration form at the time of applying for the certificate, allowing persons to update their voter registration to include the identification number of the newly issued certificate. This allows for people to stay registered as they transition from a previous form of ID to a personal identification certificate. The Department of Transportation is directed to submit the completed voter registration form to the Secretary of State or county clerk in which the person resides.

As proposed, S.B. 975 amends current law relating to the procedures for the issuance of a personal identification certificate to a person whose driver's license is surrendered.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 521.101, Transportation Code, by amending Subsection (m) and adding Subsection (n), as follows:

(m) Provides that the procedures for the issuance of a personal identification certificate to a person who surrenders the person's driver's license at the time of applying for the certificate:

(1) makes no changes to this subdivision;

(2)-(3) makes nonsubstantive changes to these subdivisions; and

(4) are required to require that the person issued a personal identification certificate be provided a voter registration form at the time of applying for the certificate to update the person's voter registration information to include the identification number of the newly issued certificate.

(n) Requires the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas (DPS), if a person completes a voter registration form at the time of applying for a personal identification certificate under Subsection (m)(4), to submit the completed voter registration form to the secretary of state or the county clerk of the county in which the person resides not later than the 30th day after the date the personal identification certificate is issued. Provides that Section 20.063(d) (relating to requiring a DPS employee, if a completed voter registration application submitted to a DPS employee does not include certain information, to enter the appropriate information on the application), Election Code, applies to a voter registration form described by this subsection.

SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 2023.