GUEST EDITORIAL

By April S. Taylor,

Published: April 3, 2008

Three years ago Congress passed the Real ID Act. It requires states to tighten the security for driver’s licenses. For a variety of reasons — from its cost to concerns about personal privacy — many states have balked. At least nine have passed laws barring implementation of the federal law. (Virginia intends to comply.)
Two states — Maine and South Carolina — did not even bother to file for an extension, as the regulations allow. Their residents’ ability to travel is now in jeopardy. Others that do ask for waivers will have until Jan. 1, 2010, to get in line. After that, driver’s licenses no longer will qualify as federal identification for transportation purposes unless the issuing agency has met the law’s requirements.
That means someone flying within the United States might have to rely on a passport or undergo “added security and screening,” an employee for the Department of Homeland Security says. Many Americans might take offense at being asked for a passport to travel within their own country.
That will be a nightmare for residents of noncompliant states. But it also will affect even those travelers — including Virginians — who hail from states that do as they’re told. The latter sometimes will be standing in line behind travelers who find out — far too late — that their driver’s licenses won’t get them on the flight they signed up for. Fender-benders can make road traffic slow to a crawl, and ID problems at the airline terminal could have the same effect. It’s not going to be fun.
There are sound public-policy reasons to establish national standards for identification — but the Real ID Act could turn out to be a real mess.
-- From the Richmond Times Dispatch