SB1421

THE CONTEXT: The Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) ensures public confidence by protecting the interest of depositors, borrowers and consumers through the enforcement of state laws. DIFI has the authority to adopt rules, investigate consumer complaints related to financial services and enforce compliance requirements for financial institutions and business entities through verification and reporting protocols.

WHAT THE BILL DID: The final vetoed version would prohibit a financial institution from accepting, as a form of identification for opening any account, safe deposit box or receiving services, a license or identification card that is: a; issued exclusively to an unauthorized alien or undocumented immigrant; or b; substantially similar to a license or identification card issued to a U.S; citizen or resident or an individual who is lawfully present in the U. S; but that has markings indicating that the license or card holder did not present proof of lawful presence in the U.S, deems making a loan to an individual, for loan applications that allow the use of an ITIN as a method of identifying the loan recipient, unlawful, and allow a lender, after executing a lawful loan agreement, to request the borrower's ITIN if the borrower is ineligible to receive an SSN.

WHY IT MATTERED: The practical reason for this bill was to make the licensing pathway more workable while retaining a defined state standard. It would prohibit a financial institution from accepting, as a form of identification for opening any account, safe deposit box or receiving services, a license or identification card that is: a. issued exclusively to an unauthorized alien or undocumented immigrant; or b. substantially similar to a license or identification card issued to a U.S. citizen or resident or an individual who is lawfully present in the U. S. but that has markings indicating that the license or card holder did not present proof of lawful presence in the U.S, and would also deems making a loan to an individual, for loan applications that allow the use of an ITIN as a method of identifying the loan recipient, unlawful, rather than leave the current rule unchanged.