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"In many respects it's a statute that ignores reality."
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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