Western Citizen

A year-end deadline looms on the controversial federal ID card system to which the National Governors Association replied: Get real.

Stateline has the latest on the on-going tussle between cash-strapped states, civil liberty advocates and the federal government that could prevent state residents next year from boarding commercial aircraft or entering federal buildings without the shiny, new secure ID card:

While Congress debates national health care legislation that could put new fiscal burdens on the states, the nation’s governors are pushing Capitol Hill for a reprieve from another costly federal program that states have long criticized: Real ID.

The program, created in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks, requires all states to start issuing more secure driver’s licenses by the end of this year. Residents of states that do not comply with the deadline will not be able to board commercial aircraft or enter federal buildings using their driver’s licenses beginning in January.

In a letter to congressional leadership on Wednesday (Nov. 18), the National Governors Association disclosed that as many as 36 states won’t meet the end-of-year deadline. Another 13 states have thumbed their noses at the federal government by passing laws that prohibit participation in Real ID, which states have long viewed as an unfunded federal mandate that could violate their residents’ privacy. The recession, meanwhile, has ravaged state budgets and is likely to further erode states’ willingness, or their ability, to comply with Real ID.

The governors’ trade group did not specify which states are expected to miss the Dec. 31 deadline.

Since REAL ID’s inception, Colorado, Idaho and Montana have enacted resolutions to block compliance with the federal bill by refusing to fund the program. The Utah House passed a resolution on third reading but was not joined by the state Senate after two tries. Neither New Mexico or Wyoming have enacted similar bills after multiple attempts.

A final REAL ID rule posted on the Dept. of Homeland Security Web site notes states may “seek an additional extension of the compliance deadline to May 11, 2011, by demonstrating material compliance with the core requirements of the Act and this rule.”

Categories: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Politics, States, Utah, Wyoming | Tags: civil liberties, Dept. of Homeland Security, National Governors Association, national security, PASS ID, REAL ID