We're headed RIGHT here in MA Frank!

Gov.-elect Charlie Baker said he would nix a Patrick administration plan to give special driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants in order to comply with new federal rules, an early sign of the different direction the new man in the Corner Office plans to take.

“I don’t support issuing driver’s licenses to people who are undocumented,” Baker said on Boston Herald Radio yesterday, backing the stance he took in the campaign against Democrat Martha Coakley.

The Herald reported earlier this month the Patrick administration had informed Homeland Security officials the state “will have the ability” to dole out special driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants as part of its plan to comply with a tougher federal ID law.

“I want to know what the federal government’s expectations are about what it is we are supposed to be doing to meet the terms of conditions,” Baker said, “because my primary objective is to make sure we don’t end up in a situation where our people are put in a bad place with respect to their ability to access public buildings.”

The state recently got a waiver from the Federal Real ID act, which ramps up the qualifications to receive a state driver’s license to prevent terrorists from using easily obtained IDs to enter federal buildings or board planes.

“That will certainly be something that we talk to the administration about as part of the transition,” Baker said yesterday. “I am interested in knowing where they are and what the terms of the waiver are, because that is important for the citizens of Massachusetts.

“Some people don’t even have a passport,” he said. “I mean, the idea that you have to have a passport to enter a federal building or have a passport to get on an airplane because your driver’s license wasn’t good enough — I will work hard to avoid that.”

The feds have allowed states to issue “non-compliant” driver’s licenses that look different from ones held by legal citizens and cannot be used to enter planes or give access to federal buildings. Beacon Hill Democrats have introduced several bills over the years officially allowing illegal immigrants to get licenses, but they haven’t passed the Legislature.

Meanwhile, the list of names Baker could look to for top administrative posts continues to grow, though he said yesterday he hasn’t had any “conversations with anybody.”

Democratic state Rep. David Nangle, who led two rallies for Baker in Lowell just before the election, didn’t exactly shut the door on a possible Baker administration post. “I enjoy being the state rep in the city of Lowell, and I enjoy my job very much,” he said.

Quincy Mayor Tom Koch — who also endorsed Baker — said he plans to stay put in City Hall. “He hasn’t offered, nor am I interested in anything,” Koch said.

Mary Z. Connaughton, a former state auditor candidate whom Baker reached out to as a possible running mate before pairing with Karyn Polito, could also be a potential addition.
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Next maybe it will become illegal to be an illegal in this State once again. Representative government is coming back in the saddle.

Quote: Sanguine wrote in post #2

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Y'all are now officially more right- thinking than NH?

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