April 17, 2019. This Letter to the Editor points out the benefits of allowing all residents to apply for a driver’s license and clarifies why this needed: “A driver’s license does not confer immigration status or any other benefit on the immigrant. It simply allows the immigrant to operate a vehicle, increasing revenue for the state and improving safety for all on the road. To withhold driving privileges from immigrants is to essentially deprive them of the ability to obtain food, employment, medical assistance, and other services that are needed to survive.”

Policy makers have recognized the immense positive impact this license legislation would have on New York. In February, the New York City Council passed a resolution in support of Green Light NY. According to a recent report by the Fiscal Policy Institute, New York would receive $57 million in annual revenue and $26 million in one-time revenue from the purchase of driver’s licenses, cars, registrations, and sales and gas taxes, if the state allowed all residents to obtain a driver’s license.

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Read FPI’s report