Residents in New Jersey's largest city will soon be able to get their municipal identification cards.
The Newark Municipal Council voted unanimously Thursday to approve the municipal ID bill. It's expected to go into effect in early July.
The card will allow residents certain benefits, including opening and operating a bank account and utilizing the ID card as a form of official ID for schools, police and buildings.
City officials say they believe the program will benefit all 300,000 Newark residents.
Mayor Ras J. Baraka said in a statement: "This bill says that our door is open in the great city of Newark. We want to help all citizens to engage with the city and its resources. We want them to feel comfortable contributing positively to Newark socially, culturally and economically. We want them to join us in making Newark a city that we can all believe in."
The program was modeled after similar ones in other cities, including in New York, where more than 50,000 people signed up within days of its launch in January.
