http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2006-01-12-uniform-drivers-lice
nse_x.htm
National uniform driver's license law is 'nightmare'
By Brian Bergstein, Associated Press
An anti-terrorism law creating a national standard for all driver's licenses
by 2008 isn't upsetting just 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 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.
Obstacles to compliance
UNIFORM IDs: The Real ID Act sets national standards for driver's licenses.
The law also seeks to ensure that immigrants can't get licenses that outlast
their legal status in the country.
BIG HURDLES: States worry that logistical, technological and financial
demands will prevent meeting the law's May 2008 deadline.
WHAT'S NEXT: States hope for specific guidance from the Department of
Homeland Security. State laws and computing systems will need overhaul.
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."
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
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