License Address Change Passes Legislative Assembly | News, Sports, Jobs

The driver will probably no longer have to note address changes on their driver's license, but that doesn't mean they can stop notifying the DMV when they move.

Both houses of the state legislature have passed legislation that eliminates the requirement for a person to write a change of address on the back of a driver's license or non-driver identification document. . The bill passed the state Senate earlier this session 48-13 with Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, voting against the bill. The Assembly passed Measure 141-4 with both Assemblymen Andrew Goodell, R-Jamestown, and Joe Giglio, R-Gowanda, in favor.

Similar legislation was approved by the state Senate in 2014, but failed to pass the Assembly that year. In his legislative rationale, Assemblyman Brian Cunningham, D-Brooklyn, said the current law requiring a change of address on the back of a driver's license or ID card is a problem for the DVM. Space is limited on most modern licenses and forms of identification, while the DMV is being asked to include an increasing amount of driver's license information, including data regarding the many types of license endorsements driving and restrictions for commercial and non-commercial license holders, and information related to Real ID or Enhanced ID, Organ Donor Status and Veteran Status.

Goodell asked Cunningham if the DMV still needed to be notified. Cunningham said yes, the DMV must be notified within 10 days of an address change. It just wouldn't have to be written on the back of the driver's license.

"It's actually a convenience for the DMV," said Cunningham. "When you write, actually write, on the plastic, it eliminates it, so an officer or anyone who presents that ID couldn't see it because it would get smudged because of the laminate on the plastic. "

Goodell voted in favor of the legislation, but noted some irony that his enhanced driver's license came with an incorrect address and, rather than pay an additional fee to create a corrected enhanced license, the local DMV office simply affixed a sticker to the back of Goodell's new ID card with the corrected address.

The Jamestown Republican also noted that the bill could also create a problem in some places where certain names are common - like Jamestown with its Swedish and Italian names that often leave people identified by their age and address in addition to their name.

"So when that bill came up, I just laughed," said Goodel. "Sometimes it's amazing what can be accomplished for free and that's one of the free things. I would recommend to my colleagues to go ahead and approve this, although I will share with you in some communities you need to know not only the person's name but also their middle name and where they live in order to identify it.