January 15, 2008 - If you think that airport screening lines are long now, just wait until May 11, 2008. That's the date the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that it will begin implementing the roll out of the REAL ID Act; a law that will effectively force the states to turn their Driver's Licenses into a form of national ID card. Under the new law, Driver's Licenses that are not REAL ID compliant can not be used to enter a federal building or board an airplane. And although DHS will allow states to apply for a waiver, giving them until 2011 to comply, 17 states will be ineligible. This means that as of May 11 residents of those states may be forced to present a passport if they want to take a domestic flight.

When Michael Chertoff made the announcement of the final rules for REAL ID Driver's licenses last week, he focused on the portion of the announcement dealing with state waivers. The government is trying to make it sound like it is trying to give the states more time to implement the law.

But DHS has also announced that waivers will only be granted to states that have agreed to work on implementing the law. Those that have voice opposition to it, or those that have completely opted out of the law, will not be given a waiver.

This means that residents of 17 states including Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington will need a passport to fly within the next four months. Washington, DC appears to be playing hard-ball.

The states listed above have been opposed to the law for two reasons. In some cases, this issue has been one of privacy and states rights. Simply put, there area lot of people opposed to the federal government monitoring the movements of private citizens in their daily lives.

The other reason for state opposition is cost. REAL ID is an unfunded federal mandate. This means that the federal government is telling the states what to do, but not providing the money for them to do it. In the case of REAL ID, the price tag is Billions of dollars, so it is no wonder that states are objecting.

The real question is whether or not DHS is serious about not allowing waivers for these states. The American Civil Liberties Union doesn't think so. The ACLU has clearly stated that they think DHS is bluffing.

At ACCESS, we're not quite so sure. While moving forward with DHS's plan would bring financial hardship to airlines and an untold amount of inconvenience to the traveling public, the Bush administration has demonstrated little patience for anyone who has challenged them to date.

Fortunately, there is a move afoot in Congress to repeal REAL ID. Unfortunately, even if it passed through both houses of Congress tomorrow, it wouldn't have enough votes to sustain a presidential veto; something which is almost assured. It is fairly clear that the current administration intends to leave the REAL ID mess it has created for the next president to figure out.

Anyone who resides in one of the states mentioned in this article and planning on flying after May 11 should seriously consider getting a passport now.

by Jim Malmberg

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