Real ID showdown averted for now

By McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The clash between the states and the federal government over nationwide rules to make driver's licenses more secure has ended - for now. A truce, of sorts, between the 50 states and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, has kicked the issue down the road for the next president and Congress to hash out almost two years from now.

In a game of chicken over whether the federal government actually would pursue its enforcement threats, Maine last week became the last state to receive an extension to comply with the Real ID Act, the federal law aimed at keeping driver's licenses out of the hands of terrorists and illegal aliens.

Without that extension, residents of Maine and the other states that flirted with the March 31 deadline could not have used their driver's licenses to board airplanes and enter federal buildings after the rules take effect May 11.

DHS now says all states are in compliance with Real ID, but opposition to the act remains strong. Bills introduced in 11 states this year would bar participation in Real ID, including one that has made it to the desk of Republican Idaho Gov. Butch Otter, who has long opposed the law, according to his spokesman.

Enhanced license gets push

Texas attorney general backs document with feds' approval

By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau
Article Launched: 01/23/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

Texas can create enhanced driver's licenses for use at the border with Mexico as long as the documents conform to federal standards, state Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a ruling issued Tuesday.

But that doesn't mean El Paso border crossers will get back into the U.S. with a simple swipe of their license soon.

Gov. Rick Perry's spokeswoman said the opinion answered just one of many questions he has about the program.

"We need to be responsible for the program that we implement to ensure we're not, down the line, wasting taxpayers' money," spokes woman Krista Piferrer said.

Legislators last year approved a pilot program to create drivers' licenses that would store citizenship information so that citizens could quickly cross back into the United States from Mexico.

Despite feds' pleas, Perry fails to OK ID program

By Brandi Grissom / Austin Bureau

Article Launched: 01/21/2008 12:00:00 AM MST

AUSTIN -- Gov. Rick Perry's continued stalling of a program that would allow Texas border crossers to return from Mexico with a quick swipe of their driver's license has had federal officials frustrated and calling for political help to broker a solution.

E-mails the El Paso Times obtained under Texas open records laws show that U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials for months have been asking Perry to sign an agreement that would allow the state to implement enhanced driver's licenses.

"The Department feels strongly that providing our citizens with secure documents for cross border travel in a familiar format is one of the best options we have," Kathleen Kraninger, director of screening coordination at DHS, wrote in an October e-mail to Perry's staff.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Texas is close to reaching an agreement with DHS but that doesn't mean the license program will get under way.

New rules force millions to get new driver's licenses

Daniel González

The Arizona Republic
Jan. 12, 2008 12:00 AM

Arizona will have to adopt new federal rules aimed at making driver's licenses more secure or residents may no longer be able to use their licenses to board airplanes or enter federal buildings.

Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff announced the new driver's-license rules on Friday as part of the controversial Real ID Act. The rules are intended to create minimum standards in all 50 states that make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get driver's licenses in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Hijackers fraudulently obtained driver's licenses to board aircraft and then fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

As of Friday, Gov. Janet Napolitano had not yet had a chance to review the new rules, so it was too early to say whether she planned to comply, said Jeanine L'Ecuyer, the governor's spokeswoman. Several other states have objected to the new security measures because of cost and privacy issues.

Residents of states that choose not to comply with the rules won't be able to use their licenses for air travel or for other federal purposes after May 2008, Chertoff said.

Governor, lawmaker clash over new driver's license

BY HOWARD FISCHER, CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES

December 12, 2007 - 11:12PM

PHOENIX - Gov. Janet Napolitano lashed out Wednesday at the main foe of her plan for a "technologically enhanced'' state driver's license, saying the Mesa Republican lawmaker is on the political fringe.

"With all respects, you've got to look at who's making the press conference,'' the governor said of Sen. Karen Johnson. Napolitano said Johnson has "an ideological bent that ... doesn't represent the majority of Arizonans.''

Johnson responded that the deal Napolitano inked last week with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is a step toward totalitarianism.

"This isn't Nazi Germany,'' the senator said. "And I oppose requiring people to carry tracking devices in their pockets,'' she continued, referring to the fact these licenses will have radio frequency identification computer chips.

Napolitano also said those who fear the new license - and the databanks to which it might be linked - do not have to obtain one. But Johnson said those who oppose the plan are not "paranoid.''

Napolitano, Chertoff sign agreement to create secure ID

The Associated Press

Published: 12.07.2007

A deal between Arizona and the federal government Thursday will mean new and more secure state driver's licenses, including one for use as ID at border crossings as early as next year.

Arizona becomes the fourth state to sign up for a federal program intended to offer an enhanced version of a driver's licenses as secure as a passport for the purpose of crossing the U.S. border under tighter, post-Sept. 11 security measures.

Gov. Janet Napolitano said Arizona's standard license eventually would comply with the program, known as Real ID, which is designed to make it harder for would-be terrorists to get a license.

Unlike Arizona's enhanced license, a Real ID license would not be sufficient proof of identity to enter the U.S. Both types of Arizona licenses will be available only to U.S. citizens.