Arizona will join roughly a dozen states that have vowed not to participate in federal plans for a uniform standard on state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards. On Tuesday, Gov. Janet Napolitano signed a measure, House Bill 2677, barring Arizona's compliance with the Real ID program. In so doing, she called it an unfunded federal mandate that would stick states such as Arizona with a multibillion-dollar bill for the cost to develop and implement the series of new fraud-proof identification cards.HB 2677 is a rare recent example of broad, bipartisan agreement at the state Capitol, with the Democratic governor and GOP-led Legislature finding common ground in their opposition to Real ID.
Some of that opposition is grounded in concerns about privacy and government advancement toward a national identification card. For Napolitano, the biggest issue is related to Real ID's costs for the states.
In a letter explaining her support for HB 2677, Napolitano cited a White House estimate that Real ID would cost at least $4 billion to implement. But thus far, she said, the federal government has only appropriated $90 million to help Arizona and other states offset those costs. 'My support of the Real ID Act is, and has always been, contingent upon adequate federal funding,' Napolitano wrote Tuesday. 'Absent that, the Real ID Act becomes just another unfunded federal mandate.'
U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Laura Keehner disputed the characterization, saying states have access to hundreds of millions in federal grants to help pay for Real ID implementation.
Arizona and other states that have taken a stand against Real ID now are on a collision course with the federal government. The program was approved by Congress in 2005 as part of a package of post-9/11 security recommendations. While state compliance is voluntary, individuals will be required by the end of 2009 to carry identification that meets Real ID standards in order to board commercial flights or enter federal buildings. That provision still stands, Keehner said, adding, 'The rules are clear.'
Dan Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, scoffed at the suggestion that millions of Americans would be barred from air travel or federal buildings because of the standoff between the states and federal government. His organization has been a vocal opponent of Real ID because of concerns about privacy and government intrusion. Said Pochoda, 'I can guarantee that 25 percent of airline travelers will not be banned from the purchasing of airline tickets in 2009.'