Gov. Maura Healey filed a invoice Thursday that may give the general public entry to driving data greater than two years after Beacon Hill Democrats sealed off motorcar histories as a part of a legislation that granted residents with out lawful proof of presence a pathway to driver’s licenses.
The primary-term Democrat mentioned she believes that the data, together with previous violations or citations, had been by no means supposed to be stored secret beneath the “Work and Family Mobility Act,” which survived a veto from former Gov. Charlie Baker and a failed Republican-led marketing campaign to repeal it.
Healey, who’s up for reelection subsequent 12 months and has drawn a number of Republicans hoping to problem her, mentioned the general public and the media “have a right to access information about an individual’s driving violations.”
“This is important for public safety and accountability. I do not believe that this basic information, which has been regularly provided for decades, was intended to be withheld under the law. This change will make this information available for disclosure once again, while continuing safeguards to protect drivers’ privacy and security,” Healey mentioned in a press release to the Herald.
However supporters of the legislation have argued that driving data needs to be stored personal to guard the immigration standing, or lack thereof, of an individual searching for a license who doesn’t have lawful proof of presence in the US.
A spokesperson for the Driving Households Ahead coalition, a gaggle largely backed by the labor union SEIU 32BJ that led efforts to cross the “Work and Family Mobility Act,” mentioned they wanted extra time to learn over Healey’s proposal earlier than taking a stance.
“We understand there are concerns about the ability of the public to access histories of motor vehicle violations since the enactment of the Work and Family Mobility Act, and we would be happy to comment on the governor’s proposal to address the issue when we have had time to properly consider it,” the group mentioned in a press release.
The language Healey requested legislative Democrats to approve would require the Registry of Motor Autos to launch particular person driving data however redact any personally identifiable info that might represent an invasion of privateness beneath the state’s public data legislation.
That might embody house addresses and social safety numbers, info that’s already sometimes hidden in data offered to the general public.
The availability additionally limits public report requests to these regarding particularly named people, in response to the Governor’s Workplace.
A duplicate of the invoice was not instantly obtainable Thursday afternoon.
Driving data had been final thought-about public and simply accessible from the Massachusetts Division of Transportation earlier than July 1, 2023, or the beginning date of the immigrant driver’s license legislation.
The legislation and laws from Lawyer Common Andrea Campbell’s Workplace barred the discharge of any info associated to a Massachusetts license holder.
The statute mentioned that the knowledge shall “neither be a public record nor disclosed by the registrar, except as authorized by regulations promulgated by the attorney general.”
Entry to driving data lengthy offered the general public perception into state and native officers’ conduct on the highway — together with when former Boston Metropolis Councilor Kendra Lara crashed right into a Jamaica Plain house — and the flexibility to hone in on somebody’s previous violations if they’re caught up in a brand new controversy.
Brian Shortsleeve, a enterprise capitalist and former MBTA official beneath Baker, mentioned Healey also needs to amend the motive force’s license legislation to reverse the coverage of handing out “driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.”
“She has spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money on migrant magnet polices that put our state into a years-long crisis,” Shortsleeve mentioned in a press release to the Herald. “As governor, we will end the sanctuary policies and put Massachusetts citizens first for once.”
The legislation permits those that are in the US with out authorized standing — individuals whose visas have expired or who crossed the border illegally, amongst others — to acquire a normal, five-year Massachusetts driver’s license if they’ll present no less than two paperwork proving their id and date of delivery.
Healey included the measure to open up driving data to the general public in an enormous $2.4 billion spending invoice that closes out the books on fiscal 12 months 2025.
The wide-ranging invoice additionally makes an attempt to develop the Massachusetts Division of Public Health’s authority to “decouple” immunization suggestions and necessities in Massachusetts from federal requirements “if necessary to preserve the public health.”
“Under this language, if the federal government fails to maintain a robust schedule of vaccine recommendations, DPH can set independent standards for Massachusetts,” the Healey administration mentioned in a press release.
The invoice additionally consists of language that may make state institutional data over 75 years of age public.
The proposal extends the deadline for the state to contract for five,600 MW of offshore wind energy from 2027 to 2029, a transfer the Healey administration mentioned was needed amidst “uncertainty surrounding federal permitting and tax credits.”
Nancy Lane/Boston Herald
Gov. Maura Healey (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)
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