States get 16-month reprieve from REAL ID
DHS has extended the deadline for implementing Real ID to April 2011; thirteen states which opposed the measure because the federal government did not provide much money for its implementation, and because the measure’s security requirements were considered too burdensome, will now have more time to work out their differences with DHS.
Montana and twelve other states that are resisting the provisions of the REAL ID law won a 16-month reprieve when the federal government delayed implementation of the controversial measure. Great Falls Tribune reports that the decision by DHS secretary Janet Napolitano means that Montana driver’s licenses will continue to be legitimate identification for purposes such as traveling on commercial airliners. The REAL ID law requires states to standardize driver’s licenses in an attempt to prevent forged identifications from being used by terrorists, such as the 9/11 hijackers.
Many states oppose REAL ID because the federal government did not provide much money for its implementation, and its security requirements were considered too burdensome, said Melissa Savage, who tracks REAL ID response for the National Conference of State Legislatures. “If they’re not in compliance, citizens would have driver’s licenses that technically wouldn’t allow them to board airplanes,” she said. “The predominant feeling in the states was that REAL ID was likely to go away, so they didn’t act.”
Montana governor Brian Schweitzer and the state legislature were among the earliest opponents of the congressionally passed act. They defied the federal government by not enforcing the law. Montana and twelve other states were granted an exemption from the requirements, but that exemption was scheduled to expire 31 December. Napolitano’s decision keeps the exemption in place through the end of April 2011.
There are efforts in Congress to repeal the law or revise it to satisfy the states’ objections. U.S. Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, both Montana Democrats, applauded Napolitano’s decision. “REAL ID is simply wrong for Montana,” Baucus said. “Jon and I have been fighting against REAL ID since the beginning because it’s a violation of our privacy and an unfair burden on state coffers.”
“REAL ID is not only expensive,” said Tester, a member of the Homeland Security Committee. “It invades the privacy and constitutional freedoms of law-abiding Americans, and it’s not right for Montana.
