A bill that would have required New York residents to pose
for the state’s cameras more frequently has died.
Sponsored by Sen. William Larkin, R-Cornwall, the bill
remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee when the regular session
wrapped up. The Senate previously approved it.
State law requires driver’s licenses to be renewed every
eight years. The driver’s same photo can be carried over from each renewal
period, the Hudson Valley News reported.
The bill – S7143 – would have mandated that a new driver’s
license photo be taken either upon renewal or every eight years.
Larkin said the issue is important because driver’s licenses
are the nation’s primary form of accepted identification.
“But many of the photo images being used on licenses are out
of date, and may only minimally resemble the individual. Requiring an
up-to-date photo on each New York state driver’s license is one of the many
simple measures that can be taken to make sure that a driver’s licenses remain
an accurate and indisputable form of identification,” Larkin said in a written
statement.
The issue will have to wait until next year for
reconsideration.
