Want some news with your news?

News continues on the Real ID front, even after the close of public comment window.

Today comes news from Nevada that they've chopped the budget for Real ID, approving only 100K this year to hire a project manager who would submit the state's plan to implement Real ID. This is kinda a "wait and see" approach -- not opting out, but clearly not pushing forward until any possible repeal or changes are made public.

The news from Oregon is certainly no endorsement of Real ID itself, though while rejecting Real ID, the state senate approved changes to require state licenses only be issued to those who can prove they are in the country legally.

There's news from Missouri, Georgia, and other states as well. The interactive map at the ACLU site is handy-dandy for this. Also, there continues to be lots of good commentary on the web, including John R.'s excellent Real ID Watch blog.

File those comments AND the news...

There's still time to file your public comments on Real ID. Easy instructions are here or try the EFF's fax page. Lots of folks have filed, including the ACLU.

In other news, Slashdot notes that there's opposition in Massachusetts to Real ID. BoingBoing again helps remind folks that the time for comments is now. And tomorrow in the US Senate, the Committee on the Judiciary has a hearing called "Will REAL ID Actually Make Us Safer? An Examination of Privacy and Civil Liberties Concerns"

There's a nice list of speakers to the committee, including Bruce Schneier and Jim Harper, both quoted here before.


Oh, and in case I failed to mention it earlier, it's a good time to go and file your comments!

Ask your state legislators to file comments!

Thousands of legislators have voted againt Real ID in various states; if we can get half of them -- and their staffs -- to file comments, it will make a huge difference.

EFF and Downsize DC have sites that make it easy to email your legislators. USA.gov has state-by-state directories of legislators if you'd prefer to mail, fax, or phone.

jon

PS: If you know that your legislators have voted against Real ID in your state, start by thanking them. It's so unusual for them to get thanked, they'll probably fall out of their chair -- and once they pick themselves up, they'll be much more inclined to respond to the rest of your mail.

Department of Homeland Security "Town Hall" meeting in California -- May 1!

If you are in the Sacramento/Davis area of California, here is something you can do directly!

The Department of Homeland Security is holding a town hall meeting on Real ID on Tuesday, May 1st.

It will be located at Freeborn Hall at UC Davis from 10 AM to 2 PM.

If you're able, go, and ask hard questions. A strong presence at the town hall meeting will go a long way in helping to kill Real ID.

And please, spread the word. If you can't go, maybe some of your friends and family can make it.

Deborah

Real ID legislation in the states

At this point, five states have rejected Real ID (Christine Gregoire signed the bill in Washington yesterday), and a bunch of others have passed legislation in one chamber or another. The ACLU's Real Nightmare site has a great page on this: a map that lets you quickly see the status across the country, and a state-by-state list of bills with links if you want to delve into more detail. Well worth checking out!

jon

And then there were four -- Montana says "no" to Real ID

The Governor of Montana today signed a bill rejecting the state's participation in the Real ID Act. Per this article on the Billings Gazette site...

Gov. Brian Schweitzer signed a law Tuesday rejecting national driver's licenses for Montanans, saying the message to the federal government was "no, nope, no way, hell no."

I wonder what he really means?

Maine, Idaho and Arkansas are the three other states that have passed and signed similar bills; in Washington, the bill has passed both branches of the legislature but hasn't been signed yet. Thanks to this great post on the blog Grits for Breakfast, you can learn about a resolution in the Texas House that will reject Real ID unless the Federal government pays for it. The resolution also mentions data security and identity theft, even though cost appears to be the biggest issue.

Greg

Washington is fourth state to reject Real ID: 95-2 in House!

As a Washington state resident, I'm delighted to report this one:

The measure directs the state not to spend money to implement the act unless privacy and security protections have been met, the implementation doesn't place unreasonable costs or record-keeping burdens on citizens, and the state has received federal money to put the act's requirements into effect.

The bill also allows the state attorney general, with the approval of the governor, to challenge the legality or constitutionality of the act....

The Senate had already passed a similar bill, and the governor has said she'll sign it; so Washington now joins Arkansas, Idaho, and Maine as officially rejecting the current implmentation of Real ID. Estimated cost in Washington state is about $190 million over the next four years.

As the ACLU's press release points out, the overwhelming margins of these votes against Real ID show that it's a bipartisan issue.

If we can take the momentum that's being generated in the states and generate a tidal wave of comments, this should really strengthen the effort in Congress to repeal the whole act ...

jon

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