In May of 2005, the Republican-led Congress decided to revolutionize the way our Identification documents were created in an effort to prevent potential terrorists from forging documents to enter our country. Their solution was the REAL ID Act which created a new ID card that would correspond to national requirements which would be required to enter federal buildings and even to fly on an airplane. States would still be able to retain the ability to issue their own drivers licenses with the understanding that these documents would no longer be accepted as valid identification materials in many parts of the nation.

Initially, this act appeared to be a great boon to bio-metric companies and presented opportunities to contract with government agencies in several states to take charge of creating the new card. However, the climate surrounding the REAL ID act has become increasingly hostile and the act itself may be under assault from sources both within and around the private sector.

States, on the other hand, object not only to the risk of ID theft but also to the enormous fiscal cost, and cumbersome logistical processes that would be required of the states. The federal government has under funded this program up to $11 billion, leaving states stuck with the lion’s share of the bill. As a result, several states have begun to rebel against the Real ID legislation starting with a non-binding resolution in Maine urging its repeal and recently culminating in both Montana and Washington passing laws outwardly rejecting REAL ID while several states considered enacting similar legislation. It is largely due to this criticism that implementation of the act has been delayed until 2009.

It will remain to be seen whether legislators will make dramatic changes to the law in order to retain at least some of its reforms, or it is scrapped completely in the wake of the rebellion against its enforcement.

Author: Kenneth C. Schwarz currently is the Director of Information Services at T3 Government Strategies, a state/ local government affairs firm. He previously served as a staffer for the US House Committees on the Budget and Ways and Means. Mr. Schwarz earned his bachelors degree from Indiana University and his law degree at Chapman University School of Law.

Contact Information:
Kenneth Schwarz, JD
Director of Information Services,
T3 Government Strategies
621 King Street, Suite 300, Alexandria, VA 22314
Telephone (703) 299-8740
Fax (703) 379-1958
kschwarz@t3strategy.com
www.t3strategy.com