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National ID a 'Nightmare' for States
By Brian Bergstein
The Associated Press
Thursday 12 January 2006
An anti-terrorism law creating a national standard for all driver's licenses
by 2008 isn't just upsetting civil libertarians and immigration rights activists.
State motor vehicle officials nationwide who will have to carry out the Real
ID Act say its authors grossly underestimated its logistical, technological
and financial demands.
In a comprehensive survey obtained by The Associated Press and in follow-up
interviews, officials cast doubt on the states' ability to comply with the law
on time and fretted that it will be a budget buster.
"It is just flat out impossible and unrealistic to meet the prescriptive
provisions of this law by 2008," Betty Serian, a deputy secretary of the
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, said in an interview.
Nebraska's motor vehicles director, responding to the survey by the American
Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, said that to comply with Real ID
her state "may have to consider extreme measures and possibly a complete
reorganization."
And a new record-sharing provision of Real ID was described by an Illinois
official as "a nightmare for all states."
"Can we go home now??" the official wrote.
States use a hodgepodge of systems and standards in granting driver's licenses
and identification cards. In some places, a high school yearbook may be enough
to prove identity.
A major goal of Real ID which was motivated by the Sept. 11 attacks, whose
perpetrators had legitimate driver's licenses is to unify the disparate licensing
rules and make it harder to fraudulently obtain a card.
The law also demands that states link their record-keeping systems to national
databases so duplicate applications can be detected, illegal immigrants caught
and driving histories shared.
State licenses that fail to meet Real ID's standards will not be able to be
used to board an airplane or enter a federal building.
The law, which was attached to a funding measure for the Iraq war last May,
has been criticized by civil libertarians who contend it will create a de facto
national ID card and new centralized databases, inhibiting privacy.
State organizations such as the National Governors Association have blasted
the law as well. Many states will have to amend laws in order to comply.
Jeff Lungren, a spokesman for Real ID's principal backer, House Judiciary Committee
Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said there is no chance states might win
a delay of the 2008 deadline.
"We gave three years for this process," he said. "Every day
that we continue to have security loopholes, we're at greater risk."
The August survey by the motor vehicle administrators' group, which has not
been made public, asked licensing officials nationwide for detailed reports
on what it will take to meet Real ID's demands.
It was not meant to produce an overall estimate of the cost of complying with
Real ID. But detailed estimates produced by a few states indicate the price
will blow past a February 2005 analysis by the Congressional Budget Office,
which estimated Congress would need to spend $100 million reimbursing states.
Pennsylvania alone estimated a hit of up to $85 million. Washington state projected
at least $46 million annually in the first several years.
Separately, a December report to Virginia's governor pegged the potential price
tag for that state as high as $169 million, with $63 million annually in successive
years. Of the initial cost, $33 million would be just to redesign computing
systems.
It remains unclear how much funding will come from the federal government and
how much the states will shoulder by raising fees on driver's licenses.
"If you begin to look at the full ramifications of this, we are talking
about billions and billions of dollars. Congress simply passed an unfunded mandate,"
said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty project at the
American Civil Liberties Union. "Every motorist in America is going to
pay the price of this, of the Congress' failure to do a serious exploration
of the cost, the complexity, of the difficulty."
The survey respondents and officials interviewed by the AP noted that many
concerns might be resolved as the Department of Homeland Security clarifies
its expectations for the law such as whether existing licenses can be grandfathered
in before it takes effect May 11, 2008.
As of now, however, it appears little has changed since the survey described
a multitude of hurdles.
Some examples:
The law demands that states mine multiple databases to check the accuracy
of documents submitted by license applicants. Several states questioned how
that will work, especially with confirming birth certificates. Iowa said it
didn't think the states would be able to make the required vital-records upgrades
within three years.
Some states' ancient computing systems will have to be overhauled in order
to link to other networks. Minnesota runs a 1980s-era mainframe system; Rhode
Island says its "circa 1979" COBOL-based network will require a $20
million upgrade.
Many states don't make drivers prove they are legally in the country, but
the law will now demand such documentation. It also calls for states to run
license applications through a federal database known as SAVE that was launched
by a 1986 law aimed at preventing illegal immigrants from receiving federal
benefits. One problem, though, is that the "SAVE database is notoriously
unreliable ... months behind," said South Carolina's response to the survey.
After drivers submit documents to prove their identities, states will have
to retain paper copies of those documents for at least seven years or digital
images for 10 years. Some states fretted about the storage costs; others worried
about how to capture images of all those files. Alabama's survey response called
the project "massive," saying that while the state had the proper
equipment at six licensing centers, "we do not have the resources to equip
all of our 79 offices." Added Massachusetts: "This equipment is very
expensive!"
Real ID requires that a license show someone's principal residence. But state
officials object that a mailing address makes more sense for many people for
"snowbirds" who spend time in two states, for example or for public
officials who want to protect their privacy. "What should the procedure
be for a person who lives in a RV?" asks South Dakota's report.
The law calls for a person's "full legal name," no nickname or abbreviations,
on licenses. Cards have to be redesigned and databases must be reprogrammed
to make room for extremely long names, likely up to 125 characters. That's not
an easy process. By itself it accounts for $4 million of North Dakota's $5.9
million estimated impact.
Motor-vehicle employees will be subject to background checks, but several
officials said it was unclear what would disqualify someone from being able
to process licenses. Maryland's response said waiting for security clearances
"could cause staffing shortage."
Real ID demands that all driver's licenses or ID cards have pictures that
can be read by facial-recognition technology. That would end many states' practice
of letting people with certain religious beliefs request not to have a picture.
Tennessee, meanwhile, allows anyone older than 60 to get a "valid without
photo" license.
"If you take any one of these things individually, you see a significant
problem," Steinhardt said. "There are literally hundreds of these
problems embedded in Real ID, and the statute doesn't give you a way out. It's
black and white. No exceptions, no reality check.
"In many respects it's a statute that ignores reality."
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