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SPONSOR: |
Rawson |
DATE TYPED: |
01/29/02 |
HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Cancellation of Deceased Driver’s Licenses |
SB |
147 |
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ANALYST: |
Hayes |
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APPROPRIATION
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Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY02 |
FY03 |
FY02 |
FY03 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates
to HB339
Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)
Department of Health (DOH)
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 147 adds a
new section to the Motor Vehicle Code requiring the State Registrar of Vital
Statistics to file monthly certified lists of deceased New Mexico residents
over the age of fifteen with the Secretary of the Taxation and Revenue
Department. Upon receipt of such list,
the Secretary will cancel any deceased resident’s driver’s license.
Significant
Issues
Canceling a deceased person’s driver’s license
in a timely manner may help prevent identity fraud. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, identity fraud
is one of the fastest growing white-collar crimes in the nation.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
There is no fiscal
impact associated with this bill.
According to TRD, this
bill would have a favorable administrative impact on the Department. Currently,
there is no requirement that Vital Statistics send a list of deceased residents
to the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD).
Currently, when MVD receives a death certificate, it cancels the
license, enters the appropriate code on the driving record and then microfilms
the certificate. As part of ongoing system
changes and upgrades, a software program is being designed to confirm information
entered for a traffic citation against the record of cancelled-deceased
licenses and to flag any discrepancies.
It would be beneficial to MVD if the Office of Vital Records and Health
Statistics transmitted pertinent information on a monthly basis so that MVD
could complete the records in a timely fashion.
RELATIONSHIP
House
Bill 339 amends certain sections of the criminal code that relate to theft of
identity.
In responding to this bill, DOH believed that
the reference to the “Secretary” in the bill was the Secretary of
Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division.
TRD assumed “Secretary” referred to the Secretary of Taxation and
Revenue. This needs to be clarified in
this bill.
On Page 2, line 9, after the word “license,”
include the language: “and shall not use or permit the use of the certified
list of deceased residents over the age of fifteen for any other purpose.”
In 1998, the United States Congress
passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act which made it illegal
to knowingly use another person’s identification with the attempt to commit,
aid, or abet any illegal activity.
SB147 would help New Mexico prevent the crime of identity theft.
The Vital Statistics Act protects the
privacy of decedents and their families by not permitting secondary use (or use
for any other purpose) of this data.
Secondary use of this data can create a fraud problem wherein other
persons assume the identity of the decedent.
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