Transportation officials probe possible civil rights violations in Alabama

Deborah Barfield Berry | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Federal transportation officials will investigate whether Alabama violated civil rights laws by cutting back on motor vehicle services in predominantly black counties.

The cutbacks already are under fire by civil rights activists who say they make it harder to get a photo ID, a requirement to vote under a new state law.

Transportation officials wrote Wednesday to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, citing concerns over the reduction in services. The agency’s Civil Rights Department said it will investigate whether the change violates Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs that receive federal funds.

“We hope that during the course of our investigation that we’re able to get to the bottom of this quickly,’’ Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in an interview with USA TODAY. “We want to understand whether there was either racial motivation behind this or a disparate impact sufficient to trigger Title VI.’’

The Alabama probe is part of an ongoing battle over voter ID laws and is particularly important as more states, including Mississippi and South Carolina, implement similar voter ID laws. Driver's licenses are often used to comply with voter ID laws.

Voting rights and civil rights advocates argue the laws could cause millions of voters, mostly minorities, to be turned away at the polls next year for not having the required ID.

Supporters of the laws, mostly Republicans, say they help prevent voter fraud.

At issue in Alabama is a decision by officials earlier this year to close or reduce hours at motor vehicle offices in 31 rural counties, many with significant black populations. The state has since restored some services. Alabama officials have defended their actions, saying the reductions were due to budget cuts.

Gov. Robert Bentley on Wednesday said the Obama administration is trying to "politicize a resolved issue."

"This USDOT investigation is nothing more than a weak attempt to embarrass the people of Alabama and exploit our state in the name of a political agenda," Bentley said in a released statement. "I am confident that the USDOT investigation will find no basis for the claims of discrimination. It is time for the Obama Administration and aspiring national politicians to listen to facts, stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars and put the political agendas away.”

If federal transportation officials find there was discrimination, Alabama would have the chance to voluntarily comply with remedial steps, Foxx said. If that doesn’t happen or doesn’t work, federal funds to the state could be suspended.

Foxx said officials haven’t determined how much the state could lose. Some funds could come from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and other potential pots.

“In Alabama, there are no subways or commuter rail lines, so this is how people get to jobs and how they get to schools,’’ Foxx said of driver's licenses. “Fundamentally, it’s about access to transportation. It just so happens that the driver’s license is also a tool that is used for things as varied as opening a banking account as well as, in Alabama’s case, voting.’’

Alabama received about $8.1 million in grants in fiscal 2015 through NHTSA, according to information from the agency. The grants help states develop and maintain highway safety programs.

“We view the dollars that are dispensed by our department as dollars that are for every American,’’ Foxx said. “We expect that our partners at the state and local level will fairly distribute those dollars and ensure that everyone has good access to our transportation system.‘’

Separately, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, acting on behalf of the Alabama NAACP and Greater Birmingham Ministries, filed a lawsuit earlier this month to overturn Alabama's voter ID law.

The state also recently reached a settlement with the Department of Justice over the federal "motor voter" provision, which requires states to allow people applying for or renewing driver's licenses the opportunity to register to vote.

Foxx said if his agency finds the state has violated the civil rights law, it must “take aggressive action to fix it.’’

“If anything, this is a signal to states and local communities that when they’re using federal dollars, we expect them to be for all Americans,’’ he said.

Contributing: Mary Troyan, USA TODAY, and Brian Lyman, the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

Twitter: @dberrygannett