Score one for the states. The Dept. of Homeland Security announced Friday it will suspend the Dec. 31 deadline on a controversial national ID law.

The REAL ID Act of 2005 requires states to produce a biometric personal identification card linked to federal databases and which significantly modifies federal immigration laws. The bill was pushed by the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans as a means of tightening security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

However, a broad coalition of civil libertarians, cash-strapped states, privacy groups and immigration advocates from across the political spectrum have derided REAL ID as a hollow and ineffective $4 billion unfunded federal mandate that violates state sovereignty. In the meantime, Congress has floated repealing REAL ID for PASS ID, a watered down version of the law that eliminates some of the technical burdens for producing the cards to coax state compliance.

Without the 11th hour extension by DHS, citizens would have been barred from boarding U.S. commercial aircraft or entering federal office buildings beginning Jan. 1, 2010.

But the states aren’t taking the fed’s mandate laying down. Colorado, Idaho and Montana are among 13 states that outright refuse to comply with the federal law or have symbolically budgeted zero dollars for it. 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.

In a Nov. 18 letter to DHS Sec. Janet Napolitano, the National Governors Association grumbled that 36 states couldn’t meet the end-of-year deadline and asked for a blanket reprieve.

In response, DHS Deputy Press Secretary Matt Chandler posted this statement to the department’s Web site Friday announcing a 17-month deadline extension and an additional funding package. Yet, when combined with the previously awarded $45.6 million in state grants the feds are still ponying up roughly one-quarter of one percent of the estimated implementation cost.

“As expected, a large majority of states and territories—46 of 56—have informed DHS that they will not be able to meet the Dec. 31 REAL ID material compliance deadline. As the National Governors Association has said, the states have made tremendous progress in driver’s license security but simply cannot fulfill the requirements of REAL ID. That’s why Secretary Napolitano has supported the efforts of Governors and Congress to enact PASS ID, which puts states on the path to implementing national standards for identification documents and will enhance security across the country.

“In order to ensure that the millions of Americans traveling this holiday season are not disrupted, DHS is extending the Dec. 31 REAL ID material compliance deadline. The May 10, 2011, deadline for full compliance remains in effect, and the Department will continue to work closely with states to meet this deadline. However, Congress must act to address systemic problems with the REAL ID Act to advance our security interests over the long term. DHS is committed to moving forward to implement this key 9/11 Commission recommendation—just last week, the Department announced the availability of $48 million to states for the Drivers License Security Grant Program, to help prevent terrorism, reduce fraud, and improve the reliability and accuracy of personal identification documents.”

To hardcore Rocky Mountain West politicos that name may sound familiar. Chandler was the 2008 Obama presidential campaign spokesman in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming.

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.”