The Idaho Senate will consider a bill that would allow restricted driver’s licenses for people who cannot prove legal residency.

The Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 28 voted to send the legislation to the full Senate without a recommendation.

Committee member Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, said she is “still wrestling with” Senate Bill 1081, but it should be debated by the full Senate.

The Idaho Dairymen’s Association and other agriculture groups support the bill as increasing safety while allowing a sizable part of the workforce to get to work and elsewhere legally. The Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, members of the hispanic community and a firefighter were among others to express support.

Some 49% of the U.S. agriculture workforce is undocumented, said bill sponsor Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-McCammon, citing a U.S. Department of Labor survey. Meanwhile, the country’s immigration system falls well short of meeting workforce and other needs.

“So it puts us in an interesting position,” said Guthrie, a rancher. “Without the undocumented demographic in our labor force, I suppose we might be forced to import food or maybe eat half as much, cut less timber, build fewer houses or maybe deal with fewer people in our service industries.”

SB 1081 proposes a $50 restricted driver’s license issued by the state Transportation Department or an authorized agent, such as a county department of motor vehicles. It would have a distinct appearance and say that it could not be used to vote, buy firearms or exercise other citizen rights. It would be renewable every two years.

The bill aims to ensure that more drivers have training and are covered by insurance, and to reduce accident severity, its purpose statement said.

Applicants would present identifying documents such as a birth certificate, passport, consular ID or other evidence of identity issued by a government entity inside or outside the country.

The Idaho Sheriffs Association and several sheriffs testified against the bill as inviting fraud while not increasing safety appreciably. Their concern that it condones illegal immigration or undocumented residency was shared by the Idaho Freedom Foundation, a conservative lobbying group.

“We wanted to have this hearing to make sure that people were aware that this is such a significant issue in our state,” said Senate President Pro-Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, a Transportation Committee member. “There is some wisdom in getting it out there” for wider debate.

SB 1081 an overhaul of legislation that failed in committee in 2021. Dairymen’s Association lobbyist Bob Naerebout said it received more positive feedback and was more widely understood than its predecessor. And it drew support from many more organizations — nearly 100 — helped by the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation.

Farm Bureau supports SB 1081 but was neutral on the earlier bill, which proposed a driving authorization card, said Chyla Wilson, government affairs manager. Farm Bureau in 2021 wanted to ensure that the card would not be used as a form of identification for voting.

The committee’s decision to send the bill to the full Senate without supporting it was a positive step and an outcome supporters earlier considered a possibility, said David Claiborne, an attorney who represents the Dairymen’s Association.

“We’ll see what happens on the floor,” he said.