On the request of Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, Erie County Comptroller Stefan Mychalijiw released a thrown together 9-page “report” that horribly attempted to address the consequences of issuing undocumented citizens a driver’s license.
We haven’t seen such absurdity from an official Erie County government document since Joel Giambra’s Red/Green Budget.
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Open in new tab Toilet paper has more use than this ridiculous document.
This isn’t an official comptroller’s report. It’s a political document purposely created to stoke fear and hate among the Republican base. It was a waste of county resources and taxpayer money just by printing it on paper.
Completely void of any factual information, audited numbers and any other official Comptroller type information, the entire report lacks basic common sense for anyone with half a brain cell.
Here’s a summary from an actual report (click here for full report) from the Fiscal Policy Institute that negates most of the undocumented claims in Mychajliw’s report:
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In case you don’t want to waste your time reading it, here are some of the most egregious claims from the Mychalijiw report:
DMV’s will need more security because people will pay in cash
Reality: The DMV already accepts cash payments
People will travel to NYS just to get a Driver’s License
Reality: You need proof of residency to receive a driver’s license in NYS.
It will be easier to access firearms
Reality: This is where the pistol-packing County Comptroller is talking out of both sides of his mouth. His current political tourism endeavor around NY27 comes with the repetitive line that “he’s a lifelong member of the NRA and a conceal and carry permit holder.
So according to the Comptroller, the NRA’s mission of getting more people to own guns only applies to the “white folks’ in the audience? Got it…
And BTW… If getting a firearm is as easy as just showing someone a driver’s license, we need to re-visit how background checks are being done
Providing ID to someone is more dangerous to Law Enforcement
Reality: Apparently, giving someone an ID it puts law enforcement at GREATER danger, then say… stopping someone who they can’t identify at all?
Besides, enforcing Federal Immigration laws isn’t really the job of local law enforcement.
Human Trafficking victims can easily obtain ID’s
Reality: Yes…They’re actually arguing that someone who trafficks in humans for a living will take the effort to stop by a local DMV to get their victims a driver’s license.
Staff will need more training
Reality: You don’t need a birth certificate to get a driver’s license in NYS
Clerk’s staff is already taxed and overworked
Reality: New York began issuing REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses in 2017. The federal government has implemented the REAL ID Act incrementally over the last several years. The most visible phase of the plan, in which only REAL ID-compliant identification will be sufficient to board a plane, will be fully implemented in the year 2020.
Let’s see.. Maybe work more efficiently? re-assign staff. Do your job as an elected official, and if Mickey Kearns can’t, then maybe we should elect someone who is actually capable of running the clerk’s office.
