Emanuel plan on driver’s licenses triggered confrontation with CBC

A proposal by Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) to take away the driver’s licenses of high school dropouts sparked a confrontation on the House floor with the leaders of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Emanuel pulled back on the legislation, but the episode inflamed existing tensions between Emanuel, the No. 4 leader in the House, and the minority caucuses. The Illinois Democrat has pushed the idea of getting tough on dropouts by taking away driver’s licenses for months.

{mosads}Emanuel argued for the idea in a June 7 op-ed in the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Dropouts should not be drivers,” Emanuel wrote. “Requiring drivers under 18 to verify they are working toward a high school diploma is a commonsense step that works to reduce the dropout rate.”

The article noted that West Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Georgia already deny licenses to students who drop out before turning 18.

But the issue didn’t come to a head until the day legislators left for their Independence Day recess.

Rep. Rubén Hinojosa (D-Texas), a member of the House Education and Labor Committee, told members of the CHC at a caucus meeting about the bill. The idea alarmed CHC Chairman Joe Baca (D-Calif.) and other members.

Baca said he supports measures to lower the dropout rate, but said Emanuel’s idea is too punitive.

“What if there’s an emergency and you have to drop out?” Baca asked. “What if you’re pregnant and you have to drop out? Maybe you had to drop out to support your family.”

After checking with other members, Baca and CBC Chairwoman Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) subsequently confronted Emanuel in the well of the House.

“We approached him immediately in the well,” Baca said. “We jumped on him.”

Kilpatrick said she thinks that ended the discussion.

“We think he has changed his mind,” Kilpatrick said. “A driver’s license should be a reward, not a punishment.”

But Emanuel spokesman Nick Papas said Emanuel is continuing to work on the bill, though he’s open to changes.

“When it comes to the dropout rate, the status quo is unacceptable,” Papas said. “Congressman Emanuel will do all he can to work with his colleagues to change the status quo.”

The spat reflects the difficulty involved in trying to meld Emanuel’s centrist policy proposals with caucuses that are traditionally much more liberal.

Emanuel has had rocky relations with both the CHC and the CBC, mostly stemming from his tenure running the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) during the 2006 cycle.

The CHC accused Emanuel of failing to hire enough Hispanics for top staff positions at the campaign and fundraising organization. CHC members withheld dues from the DCCC for more than six months until Emanuel hired a Hispanic staffer from the office of Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-Texas).

CBC members complained about Emanuel’s constant drumbeat on paying dues to the DCCC and his threats to withhold DCCC services from members in arrears. They also said that he did not engage them on electoral strategy and didn’t hire as many black staffers as they wanted.

After the 2006 victory, Emanuel considered challenging former CBC Chairman James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for whip, and some CBC members are concerned that Emanuel might challenge him in the future.

Centrist Democrats with “get-tough” approaches to social problems have run into trouble before with more liberal members of their caucus.

Earlier this year, freshman Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.) sponsored a bill to ensure that foreclosed properties purchased by the government under the provisions of the housing bill couldn’t be re-sold to child molesters, drug dealers and con artists.

But his effort was stopped in its tracks by fellow Illinois Democratic Rep. Danny Davis, who, along with liberal groups, contends that Foster’s legislation would hurt people trying to rebuild their lives after prison.