March 24, 2008 - Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been telling states that they need to get with the program... The Real ID program that is. States have until the end of March to request an extension to implement Real ID or their residents face the prospect of not being able to board commercial airliners or enter federal buildings without a passport or being searched. But several states have opposed the law, at least three have said that they have no intention of complying with it, and they have not asked for an extension. So DHS has done the only logical thing. They have granted an extension to at least one of the states that doesn't want it. It's apparently a face saving move.

Secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, has been doing a lot of chest pounding about Real ID since the beginning of the year. He has repeatedly stated that DHS is moving forward to with plans to implement the law which will essentially turn driver's licenses into national ID cards.

When the law was passed, Congress said that the states didn't have to participate. But they also said that states that didn't participate could bring major inconveniences to their residents.

Montana was the first state to pass a law making it illegal for the state to comply with Real ID. Sixteen other states have followed suit, either voting to oppose the law or stating clearly that they will not comply with it. When DHS issued the final rules for the information to be contained on Driver's licenses, they told all states that they would give them an extension on the implementation date if they requested it,  provided that the states making such a request were also making a good faith effort to implement the law. DHS went out of its way to say that no extensions would be granted to states that opposed the law.  That's when the game of chicken began.

Right after these DHS announcements, there was a lot of speculation in the press and among the states that DHS would eventually back down. This caused DHS to issue a statement saying that the agency had no intention of backing down.

It was about this time that the governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer sent a letter to the governors of the other 16 states opposing the law urging them to hold strong. Game of chicken, round two. Not all of the states have held firm, but Main, South Carolina and Montana have. And that may be enough to cause long travel delays at airports and a lot of inconvenience at some federal facilities.

As the deadline for requesting an extension is quickly approaching, there has been a lot of prodding from DHS for these three states to come into the fold. So far, DHS has been unsuccessful. So on Friday, DHS informed Governor Schweitzer that Montana was being granted an exception even though the state hadn't requested one. DHS blinked.

Schweitzer's response was to tell a reporter that DHS had "painted themselves into a corner".

From a privacy standpoint, Real ID is a horrible law. It requires the states to give access to their database of driver's licenses to the federal government. The federal government has proven that it is completely inept when it comes to protecting the private information of citizens.

From a cost standpoint, Real ID is equally unpalatable. Estimates are that the cost of a driver's license will jump to as much as $100 - something DHS denies. And the federal government is not planning on reimbursing the states for this cost.

Convenience is also at risk for driver's license holders. If Real ID is implemented, gone will be the days where good drivers could renew their license by mail. Real ID requires driver's to show up in person to renew their license.

But the extension DHS has granted to Montana may provide hope to any state that is worried about privacy, the cost, or inconvenience. It would seem that DHS WILL back down when confronted. And ACCESS sincerely hopes that more states will join Montana in their opposition to Real ID.

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