<http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_5798680> http://www.mercurynews.com/politics/ci_5798680 Critics question proposal for national ID standards COST, PRIVACY DOMINATE CONCERNS AT SESSION ON DRIVER'S LICENSES By Edwin Garcia MediaNews Sacramento Bureau Article Launched: 05/02/2007 01:35:08 AM PDT
DAVIS - The director of the DMV complained to a federal panel Tuesday that forcing California to comply with a national standard for driver's licenses will be burdensome and cost taxpayers at least a half-billion dollars. Proposed regulations of the so-called REAL ID Act, scheduled to take effect in about a year, would force every driver in the country to obtain a new license - a requirement that will eventually require all 23 million California motorists to make a trip to the DMV line. `Onerous process' The regulations "could create a very onerous process for the Department of Motor Vehicles and Californians in general," DMV Director George Valverde told the U.S. Department of Homeland Security panel gathered at the University of California-Davis. Valverde was among dozens of Californians and out-of-state residents who expressed concerns with the law at a "town hall" style forum - the federal government's sole hearing to collect testimony during the 60-day comment period before proposed regulations can be written into law. States must begin to issue compliant licenses and identification cards by May 11, 2008, and fully implement the program by May 10, 2013. Backed by the Sept. 11 commission, adopted by Congress and signed by President Bush in 2005, REAL ID intends to prevent terrorism by strengthening the security of licenses and state-issued identification cards. The law, among other things, _____ Advertisement _____ requires applicants to submit specific documents to prove their identity, and compels all states to print their licenses on similar paper. The law also allows for states to issue driving-only licenses to illegal immigrants that couldn't be used to board planes. More than 150 people attended the meeting, and of the dozens who took to the microphone, most opposed the law or portions of it. Some worried that REAL ID could lead to a national database and loss of privacy. Advocates for women's safety argued stalking victims would be at risk because licenses will have to show a street address instead of a post office box. Transgender people said they're concerned that the government will dictate to them how they must identify their gender. "We are very concerned these proposals will jeopardize privacy," said Richard Holober, executive director of the San Mateo-based Consumer Federation of California. "That very act of aggregating records creates new opportunities for identity theft, and this proposal will create a potential one-stop-shop for identity thieves." Richard Barth, assistant secretary for policy development with Homeland Security, assured Holober that "there's nothing in the proposed rule that calls for a federal database." Geraldine Hill, a Sacramento DMV worker who took the day off to attend the four-hour meeting, questioned how California could afford REAL ID implementation, which director Valverde estimated would cost "upwards of $500 million to $700 million" over a five-year period. "I'm extremely concerned about the lack of funding when we have a federal program saying `you will do this but you will also pay for it,'" Hill said. Barth said grants can help defray the costs and that driver's license applicants would be expected to pay about $20 more to help fund the implementation. Protecting women Beth McGovern, legislative director for the California Commission on the Status of Women, said some of the confidentiality programs enacted by the state to protect women from being assaulted and stalked could be at risk if women are forced to place their home addresses in databases that could be hacked. Jonathan Frankel, a member of the Homeland Security Panel, said "That's something we're certainly going to take into consideration" before the final rules are written. A REAL ID supporter from New York reminded the audience that some hijackers on Sept. 11, 2001, had obtained driver's licenses fraudulently. "It's very important that we look at REAL ID for what it is trying to do, and not for the hysterical things that have been attributed to it," said James Staudenraus of Shelter Island Heights, N.Y. Comments aired at the meeting and letters submitted on the topic before Tuesday will become part of the federal docket on the proposed regulations. Comments also can be made at www.regulations.gov. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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