Real ID Facing Real Roadblocks?

The Real ID Act of 2005 was hastily pushed through congress without any hearings and with many unresolved issues. The "anti-terrorism" law was designed to implement federal standards for state issued identifications, mainly driver's licenses. The act would require states to invest billions of dollars towards upgrading their current identification technologies. Like most bills in congress these days, the Real ID Act illuminated a partisan divide: strong support from the Republicans and fierce opposition from the Democrats.

However, the Democrats have a friend on the other side of the aisle that just may be able to provide the leverage the party is looking for. Several Republicans are following Sen. Lamar Alexander, D-Tenn., in his opposition to the bill. They criticize it as a massive unfunded mandate. According to The Hill, the program, scheduled to take effect in May, would cost an estimated $4 billion while "federal officials have appropriated only $60 million and distributed only $6 million" leaving the brunt of the burden on the states at a time when the economy is, for all practical purposes, in a recession (that's right, I said it).

Leading the opposition for the Democrats, hand-in-hand with Sen. Alexander, is Senate Majority Whip Dick Dubin, Illi. The two Senators agree, no matter how you feel about the merits of the bill, the costs are simply too high.

“The federal government shouldn’t be able to enforce the Real ID law unless the federal government pays for it,” Alexander told The Hill. “It wasn’t properly considered in the Senate, it creates a national ID card, and it’s a massive unfunded mandate.”

Added Durbin, “It’s a federal mandate which becomes very difficult to live up to, and very expensive.”

Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, notes that not a single state will meet the criteria set out in the Real ID Act by the May deadline.

Congress gave the Real ID Act life, and it has the power to bring the bill to its knees. Stay tuned as the story develops.



ITEM FOR DISCUSSION: Assuming the program didn't place an unrealistic financial burden on the states (or the Fed for that matter), what realistic effect would the Real ID Act have in the way of thwarting future terrorist attacks? Are we to assume the terrorists of tomorrow are waiting for hours upon hours in line at the New Jersey DMV to acquire a flop ID that would somehow be essential to carrying out the next attack? Lastly, while the states lag behind, I suspect the Vegas street peddlers are ready to pump out fakes in droves (quality ones at that).