SALEM (AP) — A bill to tighten identification requirements to obtain an Oregon driver’s license won approval in the Oregon Legislature after a sometimes heated debate that raised issues of illegal immigration.

Final action came Wednesday when the House voted 45-15 to endorse the measure to require the state motor vehicles agency to verify whether each applicant for a new or renewed license is a U.S. citizen or in the country legally.

It now goes to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who has said that Oregon, with its loose identification requirements, had become a magnet for trafficking in fake IDs.

During the House debate, backers said the bill will help move Oregon toward compliance with new federal rules on identification while making it clear the state doesn’t extend driving privileges to people who aren’t in the country legally.

“This makes Oregon less inviting to those who shouldn’t be here,” said Rep. Kim Thatcher, R-Salem.

Opponents said the new requirements will prove a hardship on many of Oregon’s undocumented workers. They also said the state’s roads would be less safe because some of those workers will drive anyway, only they won’t have to pass a test showing familiarity with driving laws.

“We can’t believe that the solution to our problem is to make the lives of immigrants miserable and unsafe,” said Rep. Tina Kotek, D-Portland.

The final vote follows several rallies that drew advocates from both sides of the immigration debate to the Capitol in recent weeks.

The measure would largely place into state statutes tighter identification requirements than were included in an executive order by Gov. Ted Kulongoski that went into effect last week.

Under those requirements, people seeking to obtain, renew or replace an existing license are required to provide a Social Security number or other proof of legal residence that can be verified by the state Driver and Motor Vehicle Services Division.

Additionally, immigrants must show they have a current visa to be able to get a temporary license that’s valid only as long as the visa is valid.

There are an estimated 120,000 undocumented workers living in Oregon, and immigrant rights activists denounced final passage of the driver license bill.

“Denying licenses is an all-around bad idea for Oregon,” said Aeryca Steinbauer of CAUSA. “Rather than increasing security as Democrats maintain, it will erode the safety of our roads, public trust, the well-being of working immigrant families and Oregon’s economy.”

One of those who voted for the bill was Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, who said his father immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico but did so legally.

The state shouldn’t grant driving privileges to people who violated laws in moving to the U.S., Esquivel said.

“Are we going to reward bad behavior?” he said.