Sponsors (4)
The bill conditions federal highway funding on state verification of applicants' lawful presence—preserving funding for compliant states and improving ID integrity, but imposing new verification burdens, privacy risks, administrative costs, and funding penalties that could delay projects and spark political disputes.
State governments that verify applicants' lawful presence and identities will receive (or promptly have restored) full federal highway funds, protecting transportation project funding and reducing budget disruption for states and taxpayers.
Law‑enforcement agencies and state governments will benefit from identity checks with DHS and biometric verification because they reduce issuance of IDs to ineligible noncitizens, strengthening ID integrity and public safety.
State governments, local communities, and taxpayers in noncompliant states risk losing 10% of federal highway funds (with withheld funds redirected to compliant states), which could delay road and transit projects, increase local costs, and spark political disputes over equitable funding.
Immigrants, drivers, and families will face new identity‑verification steps and mandatory biometric/background checks, increasing application complexity, processing time, and the risk of delays or denial of IDs.
Immigrants and drivers will face increased privacy and civil‑liberties risks due to collection, storage, and use of sensitive biometric and background-check data.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Conditions federal highway formula funds on states requiring verified lawful-presence biometric/biographic checks for driver licenses, CDLs, and state IDs, with 10% funds withheld for noncompliance.
Introduced April 16, 2026 by John A. Barrasso · Last progress April 16, 2026
Requires states, starting October 1, 2026, to verify "lawful presence" (U.S. citizens, nationals, or lawful permanent residents) before issuing driver’s licenses, commercial driver’s licenses, or state ID cards. Verification must use Homeland Security–approved electronic checks of biographic and biometric data, FBI fingerprint/background checks, and confirmation of Social Security or tax ID information; states that do not comply will have 10% of certain federal highway formula funds withheld and redistributed to compliant states.