Youngstown Daily Legal News

Identification cards for senior citizens sought

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: December 31, 2015

A bill that has been filed into the legislature would provide free, nondriver identification cards to citizens age 80 and older.

Senate Bill 170, sponsored by Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Columbus, also provides that the cards would not expire.

Under current law, any resident or temporary resident of Ohio who does not have a driver’s license issued by any state may apply for an identification card issued by the Registrar of Motor Vehicles or a deputy registrar.

Such cards include a photograph and information similar to that found on a driver’s license and are used to establish the identity of the card bearer.

ID cards are valid for four years and cost $8.50 upon receipt or renewal. A replacement card is $7.50 if the original is lost or destroyed.

An individual cannot have a valid driver’s license and identification card at the same time.

Hughes stumped for the bill’s passage before the Senate Transportation, Commerce and Labor Committee.

“Many of these residents from our greatest generation are currently residing in nursing homes or live independently but cannot drive any longer. They must rely on family, friends and neighbors to take them to medical appointments, pick up groceries and medications or for day-to-day errands that many of us take for granted,” he said.

For older adults in nursing homes, a trip to the local BMV to be photographed for an identification card isn’t always practical or possible.

“The last thing they should have to worry about is the expiration date of their identification card that they need for health insurance, medical, financial and other valid government purposes,” Hughes said, adding that the state issued more than 1.2 million ID cards in 2014.

More than 151,000 of those cards were for residents age 80 and older.

“A common question that comes up during legislative debate is what do other states do regarding this issue? According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 15 states provide free identification cards for seniors, either based on age, income and/or inability to drive,” Hughes said.

“Five states provide identification cards that do not expire and Illinois is currently the only state that issues identification cards that are free and do not expire.”

A fiscal impact statement from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission has outlined the proposed legislation’s expected impact on the state and local level.

With regard to the state, the net annual fiscal effect on the existing state Bureau of Motor Vehicles Fund, also known as Fund 4W40, would be a revenue loss of around $70,000 and additional vendor payments totaling around $44,000.

The statement says the BMV uses money appropriated from the fund to pay the expenses of administering the law relative to the powers and duties of the registrar of motor vehicles.

The local fiscal highlight states that revenue loss to deputy registrars statewide, the majority of whom are private individuals, is expected to be around $262,000 annually if SB 170 is enacted.

In the 11 counties where the common pleas clerk or county auditor serves as a deputy registrar, the annual revenue loss is likely to be minimal at most.

A bill summary of the proposed legislation notes that the state’s election law requires that photo IDs have an expiration date that has not passed.

“In light of this requirement, it appears that a nondriver identification card issued without an expiration date in accordance with the bill could not be used for voting purposes,” the summary reads.

SB 170 has gained bipartisan support from Sens. Cecil Thomas, D-Cincinnati, and Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights.

The bill has not been scheduled for additional hearings.

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