After an hour-long floor debate on Monday, House members voted 39-35 for the bill, which would repeal driving privilege cards for undocumented immigrants in Utah. HB239 now heads to the Senate, where key lawmakers have praised the driving privilege cards as working as they were designed.

Rep. Glenn Donnelson, a Republican from North Ogden, said the cards are a threat to national security because anyone, including terrorists, can get a federal individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), which is used to get a driving card.

"Utah driver privilege cards are making it possible for illegal aliens to operate in our society," he said.

If the law is repealed, Utah will lose almost $1 million a year in revenue from the driving card.

Lawmakers who supported HB239 said public safety shouldn't be a concern because undocumented immigrants can still get auto insurance with a driver's permit from another country. They also said it's about enforcing immigration laws and removing incentives for undocumented immigrants who want to come to Utah.

Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville, who supported the measure, said if HB239 passes, then undocumented immigrants would leave the state or stop coming here, and they would cause fewer accidents.

"We need to have a policy that does not encourage illegal immigration," said Tilton.

Some lawmakers who opposed HB239 said they're concerned about public safety. If undocumented workers are denied permits to drive, it won't keep them from driving and it won't encourage them to get insurance, they said.

Rep. Stephen Clark, R-Provo, who opposed the bill, said such anti-illegal immigration proposals are not going to solve the problem or help secure the border.

"These message bills do nothing but divide us and cause some of us to look one way and others to look another way," he said.

Last year, Utah issued about 41,000 driving privilege cards statewide. An estimated 100,000 undocumented immigrants live in Utah.

A recent state study showed almost 76 percent of cardholders insure their vehicles. Eighty-two percent of people with regular driver licenses have insurance.

HB239 is opposed by several key senators, including Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem.

Valentine has said he doesn't think driving cards should be repealed because "it's working in Utah."

In another meeting Monday, the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Standing Committee voted to approve a bill that would put stronger restrictions on the driving card.

HB171 would prohibit people who sell alcoholic beverages from accepting the driving card as evidence of a person's age.

It would also require the Driver License Division to suspend a driving card if a person's vehicle registration is revoked, and it would prohibit firearms dealers from accepting the driving card as a form of identification.

jsanchez@sltrib.com

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* SHEENA MCFARLAND contributed to this report.