Gov. Maura Healey filed a bill Thursday that would give the public access to driving records more than two years after Beacon Hill Democrats sealed off motor vehicle histories as part of a law that granted residents without lawful proof of presence a pathway to driver’s licenses. The first-term Democrat said she believes that the records, including past violations or citations, were never intended to be kept secret under the “Work and Family Mobility Act,” which survived a veto from former Gov. Charlie Baker and a failed Republican-led campaign to repeal it. Healey, who is up for reelection next year and has drawn several Republicans hoping to challenge her, said the public and the media “have a right to access information about an individual’s driving violations.” “This is important for public safety and accountability. I do not believe that this basic information, which has been regularly provided for decades, was intended to be withheld under the law. This change will make this information available for disclosure once again, while continuing safeguards to protect drivers’ privacy and security,” Healey said in a statement to the Herald. But supporters of the law have argued that driving records should be kept private to protect the immigration status, or lack thereof, of a person seeking a license who does not have lawful proof of presence in the United States. A spokesperson for SEIU 32BJ, a labor union that led efforts to pass the “Work and Family Mobility Act,” did not immediately provide a response to Healey’s proposal. The language Healey asked legislative Democrats to approve would require the Registry of Motor Vehicles to release individual driving records but redact any personally identifiable information that could constitute an invasion of privacy under the state’s public records law. That could include home addresses and social security numbers, information that is already typically hidden in records provided to the public. The provision also limits public record requests to those concerning specifically named individuals, according to the Governor’s Office. A copy of the bill was not immediately available Thursday afternoon. Driving records were last considered public and easily accessible from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation before July 1, 2023, or the start date of the immigrant driver’s license law. The law and regulations from Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s Office barred the release of any information related to a Massachusetts license holder. The statute said that the information shall “neither be a public record nor disclosed by the registrar, except as authorized by regulations promulgated by the attorney general.” Access to driving records long provided the public insight into state and local officials’ conduct on the road — including when former Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara crashed into a Jamaica Plain home — and the ability to hone in on someone’s past violations if they are caught up in a new controversy. Brian Shortsleeve, a venture capitalist and former MBTA official under Baker, said Healey should also amend the driver’s license law to reverse the policy of handing out “driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants.” “She has spent billions of dollars of taxpayer money on migrant magnet polices that put our state into a years-long crisis,” Shortsleeve said in a statement to the Herald. “As governor, we will end the sanctuary policies and put Massachusetts citizens first for once.” The law allows those who are in the United States without legal status — people whose visas have expired or who crossed the border illegally, among others — to obtain a standard, five-year Massachusetts driver’s license if they can provide at least two documents proving their identity and date of birth. Healey included the measure to open up driving records to the public in a massive $2.4 billion spending bill that closes out the books on fiscal year 2025. The wide-ranging bill also attempts to expand the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s authority to “decouple” immunization recommendations and requirements in Massachusetts from federal standards “if necessary to preserve the public health.” “Under this language, if the federal government fails to maintain a robust schedule of vaccine recommendations, DPH can set independent standards for Massachusetts,” the Healey administration said in a statement. The bill also includes language that would make state institutional records over 75 years of age public. The proposal extends the deadline for the state to contract for 5,600 MW of offshore wind power from 2027 to 2029, a move the Healey administration said was necessary amidst “uncertainty surrounding federal permitting and tax credits.” This is a developing story…