To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. NEBRASKA AVENUE Transportation Safety Administration (TSA) Officer Donald Boone checks the identity papers of an airline traveler at Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Once REAL ID is fully implemented, proponents hope it will verify identities for all forms of travel. The rough road to REAL ID BY KELLEY VLAHOS, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT REAL ID HIT A REAL BUMP IN THE ROAD WHEN IT MET INCOMING DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) SECRETARY JANET NAPOLITANO EARLIER THIS YEAR, IN ONE OF THE FIRST TESTS OF HOW A CONTROVERSIAL POLICY ADVANCED BY THE PREVIOUS REPUBLICAN ADMINISTRATION FARES WITH DEMOCRATS LUKEWARM TO THE IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE. The secure identity program, when implemented, would require every state to issue new, federally standardized driver’s licenses and ID cards to its residents. The program is “voluntary,” but without the new cards, Americans would no longer be able to board a plane, access a federal courthouse or even, as one lawmaker suggested, open an account in a federally insured banking institution. The program has been unpopular among states—21 of them have passed legislation in the last four years putting conditions on compliance or rejecting REAL ID outright because of cost and privacy concerns. So when the former Arizona governor moved to Nebraska Avenue in January, skeptical states saw a possible opening to thwart REAL ID before it began. “We were very excited when Gov. Janet Napolitano was named homeland security secretary,” said Michelle Blackston, spokeswoman for the National Conference of State Legislatures, which has been against REAL ID from the start. “She was a governor … she knows that sometimes these policies can be onerous on states.” So opposed was Napolitano that as governor she signed a bill passed in the Arizona state legislature in June 2008 barring the state’s participation in REAL ID, calling it an unfunded mandate. In February, Napolitano told reporters she was open to “realistic options” to help states comply, like moving toward Enhanced Driver’s Licenses (EDLs), now being adopted by several border states. Furthermore, on Feb. 25, in her first Capitol Hill testimony since being sworn in, she told the House Homeland Security Committee that REAL ID was basically unworkable in its current form. “[REAL ID] was stood up without adequate consultation with governors who actually deal with the nuts and bolts of how do you handle drivers’ licenses. So there were a lot of—just—implementation issues. And secondly, there was no money put behind it. And it was budgeted and it’s very expensive to do,” she testified. “And so what I am doing is working now with a group of the National Governors Association to say: What can we do and should we do now with the cooperation and consultation of governors—of both parties, I might add—to convert REAL ID into something that actually can happen on the ground and can happen on a real time basis?” REAL ID was the brainchild of the former Republican majority in Congress, and Napolitano’s comments to reporters—that she would like to proceed, but not necessarily “under the rubric of REAL ID”—suggest that the new DHS leadership, at least on this issue, is willing to retool according to state concerns and to the new secretary’s point of view. The states have been watching with interest. Legislation in Virginia that would reject REAL ID if the protection of residents’ personal data was not assured, was advancing through the general assembly this winter. Delegate Bob Marshall, a Republican and author of the House bill that passed his chamber in February, told Homeland Security Today that privacy was the issue. “If the government or the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] or other agencies cannot assure you of the security of the data transfer … then you should not subject the individual to this risk,” said Marshall, noting that the states have no idea who will have access to all of the sensitive personal information required from people, or how the information sharing will take place. “How do you even know [the system] works?” asked Marshall, who called the number of states standing up to the federal government “amazing.” PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Cost considerations The other issue has been cost. The National Governors Association (NGA), which has had reservations about REAL ID from the beginning,estimated it would cost the states $11 billion over five years. The federal Office of Management and Budget, issuing an estimate in 2008, said the program would cost closer to $3.9 billion over 11 years. DHS said $361 million has been allocated to the states over the last two years. 12 May 2009 | Homeland Security Today Magazine This month’s issue is now available online at…