As advocates headed to the State House to celebrate a new law that will let unauthorized immigrants who can meet certain requirements get Massachusetts driver's licenses, Gov. Charlie Baker expressed broad support for a nascent push to repeal the law before it's actually implemented.
"I'm not familiar with that process," Baker said when asked about the new recall effort during a routine press conference with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka. "But I made pretty clear what my rationale was for vetoing the law."
Baker has argued repeatedly that, because Massachusetts automatically registers individuals applying for driver's licenses to vote, the new law could create confusion regarding voter eligibility for cities and towns.
The new law, which went on the books after the Massachusetts House and Senate overrode Baker's veto by wide margins last week, requires the Registry of Motor Vehicles to work with the secretary of state to create procedures to keep ineligible individuals from being automatically registered to vote.
Organizers filed to form a new committee Monday place the license law on the ballot for possible repeal this November. The effort has the backing of Republican candidate for governor Geoff Diehl and Jim Lyons, the chairman of the MassGOP, according to the Boston Globe. While the process is complex, proponents of repeal would have to get tens of thousands of signatures in a short period of time in order to put the measure before voters.
Later in Monday's press conference, Baker warned that preparing to implement the new law, which is scheduled to take effect next July, will be logistically difficult.
"There's a ton of policies and procedures and training that will have to be done across the registry to actually pull this off," Baker said. "There's no one who works for the [RMV] currently who knows what any of these foreign documents look like, or how to determine their validity."
Under the new law, unauthorized immigrants seeking licenses will need to provide paperwork proving their identity and Massachusetts residence.
Asked if his misgivings might prompt another veto — of pending legislation that would make the early-voting and vote-by-mail reforms adopted in response to the COVID pandemic permanent — Baker suggested they might.
"Well, I'm going to wait until the bill actually gets to my desk, and then we'll take a look at it and see how these two things relate to each other," he said.
"I will say that many of the bills that have been passed in other states are not laws in which you get a driver's license. You get a driver's privilege card," he said. "That was never really on the table here in Massachusetts."
Despite Baker's dissatisfaction with the new law, the prospect of offering recall proponents more than just broad statements of support could be unpalatable for the governor, personally and politically.
While Baker has enjoyed high approval ratings from Massachusetts voters for most of his tenure, his generally moderate approach to politics has elicited frequent criticism from both Diehl and Mass GOP chair Jim Lyons, who the Globe reports is also backing the effort.
Still, Baker's high profile and strong standing with most Massachusetts voters would make him an invaluable ally if the recall effort gains momentum — especially with public opinion sharply split on the merits of the new law.
Baker's remarks seemed to be on Mariano's mind about an hour later, as he joined advocates and other legislators at a ceremonial signing of the new law.
"The work is not done, and that's the only bit of reality I want to bring to this celebration," he said. "Already we've seen the rattling of sabers by our Republican friends ... and there's a recall petition being put together now which we must argue against.
"Keep harping on the fact that this is a public-safety bill," Mariano urged the crowd. "It is about the families that are working in our community, taking their kids to school and going to the doctor, being allowed to drive safely on our roads."
