SHARE

By of the

A pair of Republican lawmakers are circulating a proposal that would prohibit county and town governments from issuing — or spending money on — photo identification cards.

The legislation would also bar photo ID cards issued by cities or villages from being used for things like voting or obtaining public benefits, such as food stamps.

Critics say the legislation is an attack on local control and is targeting a plan recently approved by city and county officials in Milwaukee to issue local identification cards to the homeless, immigrants in the country illegally and other residents unable to obtain state driver's licenses or other government-issued ID cards. They also say the bill is an example of anti-immigrant discrimination.

The measure's sponsors, state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and state Rep. Joe Sanfelippo (R-New Berlin), say they're trying to fight fraud and prevent confusion.

"Preventing fraud and abuse in voting and state government programs has been a priority for this Legislature," they wrote in memo seeking co-sponsors. "Creating another government photo identification card that people may believe qualifies them for benefits is potentially misleading, confusing, and unfair to the card's recipient, and unnecessary."

They added that counties and towns have "no specific authority to issue photo identification cards," and said the proposal would simply block such photo IDs, other than for employment-related cards for town or county employees.

The bill would also prohibit an ID card issued by a city or village from being used for voting or registration for voting, or for obtaining public benefits such as food stamps, Wisconsin Works and medical assistance programs. Under the legislation, any local ID cards would be required to state clearly that the card isn't authorized for voting purposes.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic accused the measure's sponsors of "attacking local control" and said the proposal was just the latest in a string of bills targeting Milwaukee.

"I wish I could say I was shocked," she said.

The County Board added a plan to help fund municipal ID cards as an amendment to the 2016 county budget. That amendment called for setting aside $150,000 in a special county contingency account while a joint county-city task force developed a municipal ID program

The City of Milwaukee agreed to match the county's contribution under a budget amendment approved by the Common Council in November. The deal provided that the city would establish a $150,000 account in the city clerk's office to help fund ID cards for city residents, such as the homeless, immigrants in the country illegally, runaway youth, victims of domestic violence and transgender people.

Both Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele and Mayor Tom Barrett backed the municipal IDs and approved the plan when they signed their budgets in November.

Dimitrijevic said numerous people testified in favor of the municipal ID cards at budget hearings and said local officials saw the plan as a way to "unite" Milwaukee.

"And then here come the state Republicans," she said.

Dimitrijevic said they were pursuing a "divisive agenda" similar to that of millionaire real estate mogul and GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump.

"This is a way to bring people out of the shadows," she said of the ID cards. "I think it will help put people to work."

Advocates who pushed for the local ID cards say the bill is an attack on immigrants.

"This bill is an example of the discrimination and hate that immigrants face today in this country. Even dogs have collars so people know who they are," said Guadalupe Romero, a member of the immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera. "We are human beings and we just want a card with our first and last names and address on it, so people know who we are."

The Milwaukee ID cards were specifically not to be used for voting, added Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera.

"While it's regrettable that Republicans deny marginalized people food and health care, they also know that Milwaukee IDs will not prove eligibility for safety net programs either — don't worry, they'll still be hungry," she said. "The Milwaukee ID program is a great example of a local government responding to grass-roots voices and stepping in to provide basic services to constituents when the state and federal government have failed to do so."

Sanfelippo acknowledged that the measure was inspired by the Milwaukee municipal identification card plan. But he argued that the county is an extension of state government and said because the state already issues ID cards, it would be a waste of county taxpayer money to issue local IDs.

"If the city wants to waste taxpayer money, God bless them. They can do that," Sanfelippo said. "It's not an infringement of local control."

He added that he was concerned the ID cards could open the door to voter fraud.

"If there's nothing secretly nefarious about what they're doing, they will have no objection to the bill," Sanfelippo said.

The deadline for co-sponsors to sign onto the GOP bill to limit local ID cards is Tuesday.