Senate passes bill requiring DOT use of federal SAVE system to verify citizenship for driver credentials

Sen. Kreienbrink moved and the senate passed Senate File 21-87, a bill that directs the Department of Transportation to use the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system — or a successor program — to verify citizenship or lawful immigration status for applicants seeking issuance or renewal of driver's licenses and nonoperator identification cards.

The measure also prohibits the DOT from issuing a credential to anyone who does not provide proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigration status, and it was placed on its final reading and passed by the required constitutional majority.

Supporters said SAVE is one of the most accurate federal verification tools available. "The United States customs and immigration services, they rank the SAVE program as 99.16% accurate," Sen. Kreienbrink said in opening remarks and later moved the bill to final passage.

Opponents urged caution about embedding SAVE into state law, arguing the system is a query tool that can contain incomplete or outdated information. "The information gleaned from the SAVE program should be considered useful, but not definitive in assessing an individual's citizenship," Sen. Winkler said, warning that errors or routine data gaps could require repeated trips to the DOT and risk erroneous denials on renewals.

The bill cleared the senate after a roll-call vote the clerk recorded as 42 ayes and 5 nays. The sponsor framed the measure as preserving credential integrity and pointed to the DOT's appeals process for applicants who believe they were wrongly denied.

The senate ordered the bill to be messaged to the governor’s office for further action.