Maine Rejects REAL ID Act

Kick!

Realizing what an unfair and impossible burden this places on them and their residents.

CA: Senate Bill Aims To Repeal `Real Id' Law; Opponents Deem License Regulations Too Expensive
The Daily News of Los Angeles, January 23, 2007
By Lisa Friedman

Faced with having to pay $500 million for federally mandated driver's licenses aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, California officials are looking to the new Democratic Congress for financial relief.

And they may find it in a Senate bill that essentially would repeal the so-called ``Real ID'' law, condemning it as an ``unrealistic and unfunded burden on state governments.''

Introduced by Sens. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, and John Sununu, R-N.H., the bill would eliminate a cascade of federal driver's license standards that Congress passed last year and states must implement by May 2008.

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NM: ID Act's Repeal Is Urged
Albuquerque Journal, January 24, 2007
By Gabriela Guzman

SANTA FE - House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D- Grants, wants Congress to repeal the federal Real ID Act.

He'll introduce a memorial - a nonbinding statement of legislative wishes - this week.

The act, passed by Congress in 2005, outlines federal standards for issuing drivers' licenses. States are expected to comply by May 2008.

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"It's expensive, cumbersome and violates our individual rights," he said at a Capitol news conference.

Senate Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, has introduced mirror legislation (SJM 11) in the Senate.

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WA: Bill Would Put Brakes On National ID Cards
The Columbian, January 24, 2007
By Kathie Durbin

Under a bill heard Tuesday by the Senate Transportation Committee, the state of Washington could refuse to comply with a federal mandate that would effectively turn state driver's licenses into national identification cards.

Senate Bill 5087, sponsored by committee Chairwoman Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, would forbid state agencies from spending state money to implement the REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005. The act, which was attached to an emergency appropriations bill, requires that certain information, including proof of citizenship, be placed on every state driver's license in a standard, machine-readable format.

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MT: Lawmakers object to federally approved ID cards
Great Falls Tribune, January 2007
By Alan Suderman

Lawmakers want Montana to be the first state in the country to say "no" to federally approved ID cards.

Rep. Brady Wiseman, D-Bozeman, and Rep. Diane Rice, R-Harrison, presented nearly identical bills to the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday that would reject the federal Real ID Act of 2005. Both said the act was an attempt by the federal government to usurp power from individual state governments and threatened an individual's right to privacy.

State legislatures in Georgia, Massachusetts and Washington have similar bills pending, and more states are likely to follow suit, according to Matt Sundeen of the National Council of State Legislatures. An effort to pass a similar law in New Hampshire failed during its last legislative hearing.

:loveya: