If they don’t get back on track before the 2019 session ends later this week, lawmakers are considering expanding existing decriminalization laws — which date to 1977 and haven’t prevented thousands of arrests over the years — as well as a process that allows people with misdemeanor marijuana criminal records to have them expunged. Lawmakers are also looking at a sharp expansion of the existing medical marijuana law to make the drug more widely available.

The driver’s license legislation will permit migrants without immigration papers to use foreign-issued documents as identification to get a state driver’s license.

In recent weeks, a number of county clerks have said they will not process applications from such immigrants. The clerks, including those in Erie, Niagara and other Western New York counties, have said they will point such individuals to State Department of Motor Vehicle offices; the nearest to the Buffalo area is in Syracuse. Others have said they will notify federal immigration officials if an undocumented immigrant seeks a license in their office.

Legislators who support the bill have said that the governor can fire county clerks if they don't issue the licenses.