Real ID: Huge Challenges for States

[brooklynite]

By ELLEN PERLMAN
Governing.com

SAN DIEGO — States will be unable to get “Real ID” implemented in the time the federal government expects, and the cost will be much higher than estimated, said technology officials at a session here at the annual conference of the National Assocation of State Chief Information Officers.

Real ID is the federal government’s requirement for a strong, state-issued identity card that the government hopes can thwart terrorism and stop people from using forged documents to get driver’s licenses and other official IDs.

But states aren’t hopeful about being able to do what the federal government has asked them to do any time soon, and panel members grumbled about the way Congress dumped the responsibility for Real ID on states. “It’s really a national responsibility,” said Larry Dzieza, budget director for Washington State’s Department of Licensing. “This is an unfunded mandate.”

Although state officials may agree with the idea of a stronger identity card, the measure that Congress pushed through, attached to a tsunami-relief bill, is a disappointment to many. “Is this the Real ID wanted we wanted? Hell no,” said Betty Serian, deputy secretary for public safety administration for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Still, they recognize that the need to verifying that people are who they claim they are is important. “I’m angry that we haven’t done enough to improve our licensing process,” Serian said.

http://www.governing.com/news/10nascio.htm

[leesa]

1. Well, we knew this BEFORE it was passed...were you crying then?

I'm glad it's going to fail. It's pointless, enormously expensive and a violation of privacy.

[Jack_DeLeon]

2. What about states rights....

how much longer till they make our "papers" mandatory.