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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

Bill to Allow Immigrants NYS Drivers Licenses Clears Assembly

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Friday, June 14, 2019   

ALBANY N.Y. – Labor leaders are urging the state Senate to take action on a bill they say will help ensure that all drivers in New York are trained, licensed and insured.

On Wednesday, the state Assembly passed "Green Light New York," a bill to allow all state residents to get drivers licenses, regardless of immigration status.

According to Alison Hirsch, vice president and political director of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, the bill would benefit the entire state by giving thousands of people in New York the ability to get and keep jobs and provide for their families.

"It's an opportunity to actually have government do what it's supposed to be doing,” says Hirsch. “Which is simultaneously providing access to work, higher quality of life for residents of our state and keeping our streets safer."

Opponents of the measure say it would require a big increase in staffing at Department of Motor Vehicles offices, and that immigrants should pursue legal status.

But obtaining legal status can take years, and Hirsch points out that many immigrants live outside of urban areas that have adequate public transportation – areas she calls "transportation deserts."

"Farm workers upstate, cleaners in Long Island and the Hudson Valley,” says Hirsch. “In order to build that American dream, people need to be able to drive places, because there aren't any alternatives."

According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, the bill would make 265,000 people eligible for licenses and generate $57 million in revenue for the state.

Hirsch notes that 60% of 32BJ union members are immigrants, many with family members who also would benefit from access to drivers licenses. She says the Green Light New York bill would help immigrants come out of the shadows.

"It's time to have immigrant workers be given the credit for the contributions they're making – through the tax that they pay, through the families that they build, through the roles that they play in the community – and we see drivers licenses as an important piece of that puzzle,” says Hirsch.

Disclosure: 32BJ SEIU contributes to our fund for reporting on Budget Policy & Priorities, Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Immigrant Issues, Livable Wages/Working Families. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.


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