Another victory for the anti-Real ID rebels
Tue May 06, 2008 at 06:03:46 PM PDT
By Larry Frankel, State Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
The anti-Real ID movement just took a big step forward, with the Arizona Senate’s 21-7 vote to bar implementation of Real ID in Arizona. The bill (H.B. 2677) still has to go back to the Arizona House for another vote and then on to Governor Janet Napolitano for her signature. But as of this writing, Arizona is poised to join the growing number of states who have recognized that Real ID is an expensive and unworkable invasion of our privacy.
The good work of a bipartisan group of Arizona legislators contrasts with what happened last week in Minnesota. Governor Tim Pawlenty vetoed a transportation bill that passed the Minnesota legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support because the members of the Minnesota legislature had the audacity to say no to the federal Real ID Act. The governor’s veto message reads like a set of talking points from the Department of Homeland Security.
As Governor Pawlenty well knows (and even admits) from his work with the National Governor’s Association, Real ID is a massive unfunded mandate that would effectively convert state driver’s licenses into national identity cards, required for domestic air travel and access to federal buildings. It trumps state laws and overrides the states’ traditional role with respect to driver’s licenses.
Real ID is opposed by the ACLU as well as a wide range of other organizations including the National Conference of State Legislators, SEIU, the CATO Institute, American Bar Association, American Conservative Union, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows.
Eight states have formally opted out of Real ID - Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington. Ten additional states have passed resolutions calling on Congress to repeal the Real ID Act. In all of these states Democrats and Republicans have supported the anti-Real ID legislation.
The governors of Montana and South Carolina, a Democrat and Republican, respectively, are national leaders on this issue. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has written quite forcefully about how bad Real ID is.
Both Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have expressed reservations about the law, and supported efforts to reform it.
Just last week there was a hearing in the United States Senate and a bipartisan group of senators expressed serious misgivings about Real ID. And there is no indication that either the Bush administration or Congress intend to ever appropriate adequate funds for implementation of the act.
The message to Governor Janet Napolitano of Arizona is clear: The overwhelming majority of Americans, both Democrats and Republicans, oppose Real ID. The legislature was right to opt out, and this position should now be made law.
Want to help end the nightmare known as Real ID? If you live in Arizona contact the governor and your state legislators and tell them you support H.B. 2677. If you don’t live in Arizona, forward this to your friends and family in Arizona and ask them to let their governor and other elected officials know they support H.B. 2677.
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