“I cringe every time someone asks to see my ID,” wine and viticulture senior Tricia Bucolo said.
Whether it be flyaway hairs, 16-year-old-acne, or the classic half-blink, drivers from all over the country often dread showing their driver’s license.
SB 1407 will allow California drivers to pay a fee to retake their driver’s license photo or supply a photo from an off-site location to be used as their official license photo. There would be a fee for each additional photo taken at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The revenue from the fee would go towards a new state Driver Education Training Fund the bill would also establish. This fund would support driver education and training programs and would be overseen by the State Treasury, according to the bill.
Bucolo said she and many of her peers would likely be interested in this option, adding that it is a great cause for the revenue to go to.
Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) introduced the bill last week.
“SB 1407 would create a new revenue source for something that is really lacking in public education,” Newman said in a press release Feb. 20. “Driver education needs to be a funding priority for the state and this legislation creates a simple mechanism to bring drivers education back to our schools.”
The bill’s ultimate goal is to make drivers education and training more easily accessible, especially to low-income drivers who may not be able to afford private lessons.
The bill has been introduced in the Senate and may be acted upon on or after March 22, according to the bill’s history.
Update: This article has been updated to include Sen. Josh Newman’s political affiliation and attribution to the history of SB 1407.