Another State Pulls Out of REAL ID, Alaska DMV Sued

Idaho on Thursday became the second state to reject the REAL ID Act, a 2005 measure that creates a de facto national identification card by requiring states to issue standardized licenses and share citizen information. Idaho, like Maine, rejectedthe mandate, citing privacy issues, states rights and the lack of federal reimbursement.

Proposed rules for how states must comply or else have their citizens stopped from flying or entering federal courthouses were issued last week. But not all states hate the idea.

In other news, the Identity Project has helped file suit against Alaska's Department of Motor Vehicles for preparing to conform to the REAL ID requirements without getting legislative approval or following administrative procedures. The Anchorage Daily News opines that it hopes the suit succeeds.

And finally, the ACLU, not unexpectedly, found that the proposed rules get an F on their scorecard (.pdf) (mentioned earlier here on 27B).

Text snippet of the Idaho resolution.

WHEREAS, Idaho is proud of its tradition of protecting the civil rights and liberties of all its residents, affirming the fundamental rights of all people and providing more expansive protections than are granted by the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, Public Law 109-13, creates a national identification card by mandating federal standards for state driver's licenses and identification cards and requires states to share their motor vehicle databases; and

WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act mandates the documents that states must require to issue driver's licenses and requires states to place uniform information on every driver's license in a standard, machine-readable format; and

WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act prohibits federal agencies and federally- regulated commercial aircraft from accepting a driver's license or identification card issued by a state that has not fully complied with the act; and

WHEREAS, the REAL ID Act places a costly, unfunded mandate on states, with 30 initial estimates for Idaho of more than thirty-nine million dollars with on- 31 going annual expenses of an estimated nine million three hundred thousand dol- 32 lars and a national estimate of more than eleven billion dollars over the next 33 five years; [...]

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the policy of the state of Idaho to oppose any portion of the REAL ID Act that violates the rights and liberties guaranteed under the constitutions of the State of Idaho and the United States, including the Bill of Rights.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Idaho Legislature shall enact no legislation nor authorize an appropriation to implement the provisions of the REAL ID Act in Idaho, unless such appropriation is used exclusively for the purpose of undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the costs of implementing the REAL ID Act or to mount a constitutional challenge to the act by the state Attorney General.

Full text of the bill. Photo: Johnny Mumbles