REAL ID Act: Maryland may have to delay federal Real ID program

State may have to delay federal
Real ID program

High costs and requiring legal residency may delay Maryland's progress with the Real ID program, even though the state has met fewer than half the requirements for the federal driver's license mandate.

"I think it's unlikely we'll do anything this year, and it's going to be a tremendous burden on this state," Sen. Brian Frosh, D-Montgomery, said at a hearing Wednesday. He serves as chairman of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.

The federal law has tougher requirements for getting driving licenses, including being a legal resident.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued 18 benchmarks that states must meet to get a second extension, to May 2011, for Real ID implementation.

The Motor Vehicle Administration has met eight of those requirements. Most were already in place and therefore cost nothing to implement.

Four remain unfulfilled because the state doesn't check applicants' residency status, according to MVA administrator John Kuo.

MVA has the technology to check legal status, so it wouldn't cost more money if legal status were added as a requirement, Kuo said.

Between 35 percent to 50 percent of the out-of-country applicants are rejected for driver's licenses because they don't have enough proof they are Maryland residents or don't have proper documentation, the administrator said.

The General Assembly must grant approval to the residency requirement.

Some lawmakers say Real ID is a way to thwart terrorism and reduce illegal immigration. Others view the program as an invasion of privacy and fear it could lead to undocumented people driving without licenses.

In the 47 states that require drivers to have legal status, "I bet there are a lot of people driving without licenses," said Sen. Jennie Forehand, D-Montgomery.

The state can reject the Real ID requirements, but that would mean Maryland licenses couldn't be used to enter federal buildings or board planes.

Kuo said a two-tier system, in which those without legal status could obtain a driver's license but not be federally compliant, is an alternative. But he said that would put an administrative and fiscal burden on MVA.

Real ID is expected to cost Maryland $30 million to implement. The federal government has given the state $1.1 million, with another $700,000 coming this fiscal year.

Delegate Ron George, R-Anne Arundel, again plans to submit a bill requiring legal status for driving licenses, pointing to the large number of foreign applicants at the MVA.

Maryland Lt. Gov. 'Serious' Contender for VA Slot

Not only is Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown co-chairing the Obama transition team at the Veterans Affairs Department, he is a leading candidate to serve as VA secretary.

A source close to the Obama transition effort confirms that Brown is being given "serious consideration" for the VA slot, and is currently undergoing the vetting process.

A member of the Army Reserves since 1984, Brown, who holds the rank of colonel, commands the 153rd Legal Support Organization in Pennsylvania. He is the highest-ranking elected official in the country who has served a tour of duty in Iraq, having spent 10 months in the country in 2004.

According to his official biography, the handful of issues Brown has been asked by Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley to focus on in his current position includes the military base realignment and closure process, veterans affairs and health care.

Op/Ed - Real ID, real problem

Real ID, real problem

The costly, burdensome federal mandate does little to stop illegal immigration and actually leaves us more vulnerable to identify theft; Maryland should join other states in rejecting it

By Cynthia Boersma
June 17, 2008

"No. Nope. No way."

So exclaimed Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana when asked whether his state would participate in the federal Real ID program.

Frustration with this misguided, expensive and unworkable federal mandate also compelled another governor, Republican Mark Sanford of South Carolina, to call Real ID "the worst piece of legislation I have seen during the 15 years I have been engaged in the political process." If Real ID has any friends in the states, they're not speaking up.

This sentiment is now percolating through the halls of Congress. In recent hearings before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, senators from both sides of the aisle were blistering in their criticism of Real ID. "The massive amounts of personal information that would be stored in state databases that are to be shared electronically with all other states, as well as the unencrypted data on the Real ID card itself, could provide one-stop shopping for identity thieves," said Sen. Daniel K. Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat, at the hearing over which he presided with Republican Sen. George V. Voinovich of Ohio.

Unfortunately, some folks in Maryland have not yet gotten the message. Opponents of illegal immigration recently staged protests outside Motor Vehicle Administration offices, demonstrating a misunderstanding of Real ID. The erroneous impression that participation in Real ID will prevent illegal immigration or require Maryland to issue driver's licenses only to documented U.S. citizens is also shared by the O'Malley administration.

Before Maryland sinks hundreds of millions of its precious transportation dollars into the Real ID sinkhole, leaders should understand what participation in Real ID will and will not do.

Under the Real ID Act, the federal government requires states to issue uniform driver's licenses - essentially a national ID card - with insecure, unecrypted personal information on machine-readable strips. That means three bad things: huge costs of time and money for Marylanders, an easier task for identity thieves, and less, not more, security for our state.

Real ID will vastly increase the time, travel and expense involved in obtaining a Maryland driver's license. It will require every driver to re-enroll at the MVA. It will require every applicant for a state driver's license to submit original birth certificates and other original source documents in person to obtain or renew a license.

Real ID then requires these documents to be electronically stored in a database accessible to the federal government and every MVA in the country with no established restrictions on access, data sharing or data mining. It will render every Marylander highly vulnerable to identity theft and will subject personal information to misuse and fraud.

Real ID will increase our vulnerability to security threats and fraud at a cost of $4 billion nationwide and over $121.5 million to Maryland. And though it may seem incredible to those who believe Real ID is intended to improve the security of our borders, the one thing it does not mandate is that Maryland require proof of citizenship to obtain a driver's license.

The contradictory and unreal nature of Real ID is driving a rebellion against it by the states. Nine states have enacted laws prohibiting state participation in the program. Ten other states have passed resolutions opposing the program. States refusing to implement Real ID include states with a lawful-presence requirement for their driver's licenses as well as states with no such requirement.

Thankfully, there is a far better alternative. Recently, the National Conference of State Legislatures issued a call to support repeal of Real ID and passage of replacement legislation. The Identification Security Enhancement Act was introduced this year in the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. That bill would protect privacy, would achieve effective driver's license security, could be implemented more quickly than Real ID and would not cost billions of dollars to be shouldered by the states.

A congressional subcommittee is considering this year's budget for the Department of Homeland Security, which contains $50 million for Real ID implementation. This is a tiny fraction of Real ID's real cost.

Maryland should join other states in saying no to Real ID. Marylanders should urge Gov. Martin O'Malley to end our state's participation in this wasteful and dangerous program and Sens. Benjamin L. Cardin and Barbara A. Mikulski to support the federal reform bill. This failed program should not be allowed to limp along to the next administration.

Real ID may be a real nightmare, but it is one from which we can still wake up.

Cynthia Boersma is legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland. Her e-mail at boersma@aclu-md.org.

(REAL ID) The Great Free State

Elizabeth Marsh Cupino
The Great Free State

Originally published May 29, 2008

I work up in Pennsylvania these days, and I am the only employee out of 20 who lives below the Mason-Dixon line. I love to brag about our Great Free State of Maryland.

You can just imagine how popular I am at work, but I'm merely providing facts and truth. Maryland kicks Pennsyltucky's Hillary-voting butt in every conceivable way. Maryland is America in miniature -- with ocean beaches, wide bay, rolling farmland, and green mountains east to west, and Charm City, and Fredericktowne, and history that beats the "P" out of Philadelphia.

Maryland was pivotal in the American Revolution. Baltimore was the seat of the Continental Congress for awhile. Frederick's own Catoctin Furnace furnished 100 tons of shells used at Yorktown. The list is as long as your arm. And Maryland was a hub in the Underground Railroad and a major battleground in the Civil War.

O say, can't you see? Maryland is the birthplace of American liberty.

We're still trying. Maryland is one of only five states holding out on compliance with the federal REAL ID program. For the moment, anyway.

It looks like Gov. Martin O'Malley will ultimately cave in, toe the line with the unfunded REAL ID mandate, and retool the system that issues driver's licenses and other IDs. Otherwise, a Maryland ID will not be adequate documentation to get you on a plane to Cancun or into a Smithsonian exhibit.

I have a Real Problem with REAL ID. It's not so much about proof of citizenship. It's about Big Brother.

The Real purpose of REAL ID is to get every American citizen logged into the federal government's big central databases. Don't believe me? Check out Section 203 of the REAL ID Act: "Linking of Databases." Why isn't anybody picketing about this outside Maryland's MVA offices?

I'm not trying to say that the REAL ID program is, like, the Mark of the Beast or anything. I'm just saying it's another tentacle of a giant, radioactive federal surveillance octopus reaching in and attaching its suckers to our private information.

Besides the National Crime Information System and the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (which tracks everyone who's ever had a mental illness, been dishonorably discharged from the armed forces, or been "an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance"), there's a big push by the FBI to get fingerprints and DNA from every person in this country. Congress recently passed legislation to prevent discrimination on the basis of genetic information, but somehow I'm not reassured.

The Bush Administration is establishing nationwide interoperable (shared) electronic medical records. It will be a requirement by 2014. As if giving the IRS all our financial information wasn't enough -- now your bout with Hep C or chronic fatigue syndrome will be captured and catalogued in a federal system.

If I had any confidence in the feds' motives or ability to manage, protect or use our private information in a responsible, ethical way, it might be different. But I don't. (Can you say habeas corpus?)

REAL ID and all these other programs constitute Real infringements on our privacy and our freedom. I think Maryland should hold out as long as possible on REAL ID, if only to make a point. Maryland doesn't take too kindly to being bullied.

I'm sure you all have our state anthem memorized ... so everybody sing! "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!"