REAL-ID Act Deadline Extended by DHS

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has quietly extended the deadline by which states must issue new high-tech, terror-fighting and very expensive driver’s licenses in order to comply with the REAL-ID Act of 2005.

Conceding that the "states may have difficulty complying" with REAL-ID’s original May 11, 2008, deadline, DHS has now given the states until December 31, 2009 to meet the Act’s requirements, including: electronically readable, tamper-proof identity and security features incorporated into each state-issued driver’s license or ID card; verification of information provided by applicants to establish their identity and lawful status in the United States – like a birth certificate; and physical security standards for locations where licenses and identification cards are issued.

Once the law has been implemented, a state-issued REAL ID driver’s license or ID card will be required in order to board commercial aircraft or enter federal buildings, including courthouses. With estimated implementation costs topping $11 billion, states have been lining up to pass legislation demanding repeal of the REAL ID Act. On Jan. 26, 2007, Maine became the first state in the nation to pass a joint resolution demanding the repeal of the law. Similar bills are already pending in Montana, Georgia, Massachusetts and Washington.

As a little added salve, the DHS also announced that states could spend up to 20 percent of their Homeland Security Grant Program funds to help implement REAL ID.

The REAL ID Act passed stealthily as a rider to the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act" signed by President Bush in May 2005.

Also See:
States Race to Reject Real ID Act
Real ID Act: Better Have Your Birth Certificate!
Real ID Act Could Costs States $11 Billion
Top Ten Signs of the US Police State (Liberal Politics)