Starting next summer, people who have lived in St. Louis for at least 15 days will be able to get a free city-issued photo identification card.
Board of Aldermen members will likely vote to establish the Gateway Card program when they return from their winter break in January. It will take effect six months after that.
The Gateway Card will not replace a state-issued ID for uses such as voting or buying products like alcohol, tobacco or marijuana. It also does not change someone’s immigration status. But it will enable people to access housing or employment, said its sponsor, Alderwoman Daniela Velazquez of the 6th Ward, during a committee hearing on the measure in early December.
“We found that often, you need an ID to do things like apply for a job, rent an apartment, basically be involved in our economy and our community,” she said. “And sometimes it’s difficult for people. There are barriers, including cost and including having a hard time getting the right documents.”
Velazquez said she hoped to expand what the card could be used for in the future, such as accessing the library or public transit, or as a place to store benefits such as SNAP food assistance.
Christine Dragonette, director of social ministry at St. Francis Xavier College Church in Midtown, has seen firsthand the difficulties that people have in obtaining state IDs.
“I spoke with someone who said, ‘I have a job that I could start now if I had an ID,’” she said. “We have to say, ‘I'm really sorry, but we have to get your birth certificate first,’ and that could take up to four to six weeks in some states. That could take up to a half a year.”
The treasurer’s office will administer the program and be in charge of determining the documents it will accept to provide identity and residency. A fiscal analysis estimated the program would cost an average of $270,000 over its first three years, based on an assumption that 7,500 people would request a card in the first year of operation.
Kansas City, New York and Chicago have similar municipal ID programs.
