TITLE: CONCERNING THE PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION OF PERSONS APPLYING FOR STATE BENEFITS.

* See State Expenditures section of the fiscal note. County departments of social services indicate that the number of clients without photographic identification ranges anywhere from 10 to 60 percent. This fiscal note assumes 35 percent are without photographic identification.

• requires applicants for public assistance or medical assistance, 18 years of age or older, to provide either a valid Colorado driver's license or an identification (ID) card issued by the Department of Revenue (DOR);

• authorizes the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (DHCPF) to establish an unreasonable hardship exemption to this requirement;

• allows applicants to receive assistance on an emergency basis until the applicant is able to obtain or qualify for the driver’s license or ID card (a county department of social services is not required to recover emergency assistance from an applicant who fails, upon recertification, to meet the photographic identification requirement);

• authorizes the Division of Motor Vehicles to exempt any person from paying the ID card fee who is referred by a county department of social services for the purposes of obtaining a driver's license or ID card; and

• is effective at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the ninety-day period after adjournment sine die of the General Assembly, or on the date of the official declaration of the vote of the people as proclaimed by the Governor, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to Article V, Section 1 (3) of the State Constitution.

Current Practice. The table below shows the identification requirements for persons applying for public assistance at county departments of social services. Due to a court-approved settlement, (Civil Action #91-S-1003), effective February 1, 1992, the previous Aid to Families with Dependent Children Program and the current Colorado Works Program require only three items when applying for public assistance. The court ruling stated that the application process could not be delayed due to identification requirements. County departments accept a variety of ID documentation for the purposes of processing food stamps applications.

Colorado Works Program — Verification

of Identification Requirements

Food Stamps Program — Verification of Identification Requirements

Social Security Number or proof that a Social

Security Number has been applied for

Proof of Pregnancy

Proof of Earned Income

Driver’s License

Department of Revenue ID Card

Birth Certificate

Student ID

Voter Registration

Alien ID Card

Naturalization Documents

Military ID Card or Discharge Papers (DD214)

Other

NOTE: DHS indicates that federal policy prohibits states from adding “barriers to participation” in the Food Stamps Program. Any delay to applicants not having a Colorado driver’s license or ID card may constitute a “barrier to participation”. Because the bill allows the State Board of Human Services to adopt rules to: (1) exempt participants from the photographic identification requirement; and (2) allow for assistance on an emergency basis, it is assumed that the matter of “barrier to participation” will be addressed.

HB 98-1384 cannot be applied to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) eligible persons (disabled) whose eligibility is determined by the Social Security Administration, and therefore automatically eligible for Medicaid without being required to reapply through county departments of social services without a change to the 1634 Agreement with the federal government.

Estimates from the county departments of social services on the percentage of clients who do not have a Colorado driver’s license or ID card range from 10 to 60 percent, dependent on a number of factors. The average number of households in the Colorado Works Program from July 1, 1997, through February 28, 1998, was 23,941. Using the most recent household numbers, this fiscal note assumes that one adult member per household should have a photographic ID to comply with the bill’s identification verification requirements. Assuming that 35 percent of applicants will have no Colorado driver’s license or ID card, 8,379 applicants will be referred to the Department of Revenue for photographic IDs. [The number of applicants/clients may be higher or lower.]

Section 42-2-306, C.R.S., as amended in the bill, provides that applicants referred to the Department of Revenue by any county department of social services shall not be required to pay a fee of $3.50 for an ID card. Given the range of clients, it is anticipated that some costs will be incurred by DOR. This fiscal note assumes that 8,379 applicants (35%) will be provided ID cards at a cost of $0.89 per card (costs include both materials and processing). Thus, the Motor Vehicle Division, driver’s license services section, will require $7,458 General Fund to comply with the bill’s requirements. [The Motor Vehicle Division is supported with General Fund.]

The fiscal note indicates that the Department of Revenue should receive an appropriation of $7,458 General Fund.

STATE FISCAL IMPACT SUMMARY	FY 1998/99	FY 1999/2000
State Revenues General Fund Other Fund
State Expenditures* General Fund Other Fund	$ 7,458 0	$ 7,458 0
FTE Position Change	None	None
Local Government Impact — None.