On April 10, 2017 Nevarez began the process of introducing House Bill 1173 to the States House of Elections Committee. The bill proposes to allow for any Native American Tribe issued identification to be a valid ID for voting.
Nevarez has seen the effects of the Texas Voter ID Law locally, which in the past has prevented people from voting due to the fact that the only identification they had at the time was a Federal government issued ID.
Nevarez addressed the issue through a brief statement on his Instagram account.
"This bill allows for any photo ID issued by a federally recognized tribe as an ID form at the Ballot Box, making it easier for Texas Tribes to cast their ballots."
In recent years, a group of Kickapoo Tribe members were turned away from voting because they only had a federal government issued identification, and the Texas Voter ID Law remains unclear on such issues.
House Bill 1173 is authored by Nevarez and reads as follows:
The following documentation is an acceptable form of photo identification under this chapter: (1) a driver's license, election identification certificate, or personal identification card issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety that has not expired or expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation; (2) a United States military identification card that contains the person's photograph that has not expired or that expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation; (3) a United States citizenship certificate issued to the person that contains the person's photograph; (4) a United States passport issued to the person who has not expired or expired no earlier than 60 days prior to the date of presentation; (5) a license to carry a handgun issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety that has not expired or expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation; (6) an official Native American tribal document that (A) contains the person's photograph; and (B) is issued by a tribe that is federally recognized and located in this state.
If Nevarez's bill was to pass it would take effect on September 1, 2017.