Gov. Bill Ritter vetoed a bill today that would have relaxed tough new identification rules for getting a driver’s license, saying the rules have already been changed and that the law would have interfered with executive-branch authority.
The measure, House Bill 1313, would have broadened the list of documents the state could accept as proof of identity to get a driver’s license. It would have changed rules issued under then-Gov. Bill Owens that required new applicants to present two forms of identification.
Many people argued that those rules were too stringent and kept some applicants from getting licenses.
In his veto message, Ritter said the Revenue Department, which oversees driver’s licenses, this week issued new rules expanding the list of documents that the state would accept.
“A legislative fix is not the proper remedy to this problem,” he said. “Though its goals were laudable, House Bill 1313 would have supplanted the Department of Revenue’s rule-making authority.”
Ritter signed 14 other bills into law, among them five measures designed to crack down on fraud in mortgage lending and foreclosures. They include bills designed to keep mortgage brokers from misleading borrowers and to bar brokers from pressuring or paying appraisers to inflate the value of a home that could, in turn, lead buyers to borrow more than they should or can afford.
