New Hampshire House rejects Real ID: 268-8

The New Hampshire House voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject the federal REAL ID Act as amounting to the creation of a national ID card.

The House voted 268-8 to send the bill to the Senate that would bar the state from complying with the federal act that sets standards for driver's licenses.

Gov. John Lynch has said he will sign the bill if it reaches his desk....

''It is probably the worst piece of blackmail to come out of the federal government. This is pure, unadulterated blackmail,'' said. Rep. Sherman Packard, R-Londonderry....

Earlier this year, Lynch reiterated his concerns that too many questions remained about the cost, privacy and turning motor vehicle workers into de facto agents of Homeland Security

See the full story -- and check out this the New Hampshire public radio story on this.

New Hampshire has been one of the hotbeds of opposition to Real ID. Check out the video of the Real ID protest and the Granite State ID site for more. Live free or die!

jon

And over in South Carolina...

Per an article in The State (Columbia, SC's newspaper), the South Carolina state Senate rejected participation in the Real ID Act unless the federal government pays the additional costs associated with it AND addresses concerns about the rules. One interesting specific in the article points to a huge potential problem with the Real ID Act:

Lawmakers also are concerned about what Real ID would mean to S.C. residents, especially the estimated 700,000 retirees who might not be able to produce the birth certificates, Social Security cards or other documents required to receive a new ID.

Clearly not all the 700,000 would have a problem, but just as likely there are many non-retirees who would. This is where the exceptions and workarounds built into the Act come into play... and by their very nature end up weakening the efficacy of the proposed program itself.

Podcast up!

Radicalguy (aka Ethan St. Pierre) has posted a podcast of his interview with Deborah and Kara. From the description:

This week's guests are transgender activist,Kara Michelle Harkins and Deborah Pierce. Deborah is a privacy lawyer and the executive director of the organization Privacy Activism. Deborah will discuss the history of the real ID act and it's imposition on the privacy and constitutional rights of all Americans and Kara will discuss how the real ID act specifically affects the transgender community.

I thought it was a great interview -- well worth checking out!

jon