Under pressure from voters and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state senators voted to repeal a law allowing undocumented immigrants the chance to get a driver’s license. The Assembly is expected take similar action Tuesday, slightly more than five weeks before the law was to take effect. The law’s prospects collapsed in the face of a threatened initiative to repeal it, and the clout of Schwarzenegger, who called the Legislature into special session to overturn the law within hours of his taking office last week.
Go Arnold!
Schwarzenegger, who campaigned against the law signed by former Gov. Gray Davis, wants a compromise version that includes more safeguards and background checks on applicants. The law’s author, Sen. Gil Cedillo, a Democrat, urged his colleagues to repeal it in the face of widespread public opposition. Though Cedillo stood by his long fight to let 2 million residents living illegally in California get licenses without providing Social Security numbers, he pledged to work with Schwarzenegger next year to find middle ground. "This is not easy," a shaken Cedillo told his colleagues before the vote. At least 17 senators who voted for the bill in September voted Monday to repeal it, while six others abstained from voting.
They counted the votes for the recall and saw their political future going into the toilet. |