Mel Kleckner, 14 Other Leaders Support Driver's License Bill

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline Town Administrator Mel Kleckner is one of 15 mayors and city managers from Across Massachusetts who have announced their support for The Work and Family Mobility Act, which would allow immigrants without status to qualify for a Massachusetts Standard Driver's License with valid proof of identity, date of birth, and state residency, according to the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

The leaders expressed their support in a letter to the Joint Committee on Transportation, which reported it favorably in 2020. It was posier for passage last session when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and has been reintroduced this session.

The bill now has over 100 co-sponsors in the House and Senate, as well as support from the Driving Families Forward Coalition that has frown to include more than 270 endorsing organizations, and has a thumbs up from mayors and managers in Amherst, Arlington, Boston, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Malden, Medford, Newton, Randolph, Revere, Salem, and Swampscott.

In their letter, these officials noted that the proposal would greatly improve road safety and increase the ease with which law enforcement officers conduct their regular duties.

“[T]his bill would provide broad benefits to our municipalities,” the letter reads. "Our streets will be safer for everyone when all drivers have passed road tests, and vehicles are registered and insured. Indeed, many of our policy chiefs support the bill as a public safety tool and agree that it will enable law enforcement to better identify individuals at traffic stops or scenes of an accident.”

The bill is currently awaiting a report from the Joint Committee on Transportation, which must be produced by March 4.