McKinney-Tymniak Bill Seeks

To Curb Underage Drinking

HARTFORD — At a public hearing before the Transportation Committee, State Rep Cathy Tymniak (R-133) testified in favor of legislation aimed at curbing underage drinking. House Bill 5450, An Act Concerning Encryption of Motor Vehicle Licenses, introduced by Rep Tymniak and Senator John McKinney (R-28), a member of the Transportation Committee, would require all new driver’s licenses to contain a bar code encrypted with the operator’s name and date of birth.

The encryption would be readable by commercial scanners to allow bar and liquor store owners to verify a consumer’s age when purchasing alcohol.

“The technology is now available to limit use of fraudulent and tampered identification by minors for the purpose of buying alcohol. We must simply move forward to implement it. By curtailing license fraud, we will be providing those selling alcohol with an important tool in the fight against underage drinking,” said Sen McKinney.

Connecticut updated the design of operator’s licenses not too long ago to include a hologram as a means to determine legitimacy. But ways have been discovered to duplicate or tamper with the hologram without easy detection. The legislators say the bar code is the latest and most advanced technology available to provide officials and those needing to verify age with a dependable source to do so. The swipe mechanism will not only be useful in guarding against the sale of alcohol to minors, but cigarettes as well. Similar programs are currently being used in over 30 states.

“The idea for this legislation came from a liquor store owner in my town. The market for fake identification is very sophisticated, placing a significant burden on liquor store owners to verify age. An incorrect judgment can place a seller in legal jeopardy,” said Rep Tymniak.

The Internet has increased access to cheap fake identification and the ability to share information about state license encoding methods. The proposed bill introduced by Rep Tymniak and Sen McKinney seeks to keep state technology a step ahead of those who search for ways to duplicate and tamper with Connecticut’s operator licenses. This legislation is supported by the Connecticut Package Store Association in an effort to aid in denying underage drinkers access to alcohol.

Sen McKinney represents the 28th Senate district, which includes Fairfield, Monroe, and Newtown.

Rep Tymniak represents the 133rd House district consisting of Fairfield, Weston, and Westport.