Bill defies federal ID requirements

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Jun 11, 2008 - Page: 6A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Legislation that would direct a state department to ignore a federal mandate requiring a special identification card could end up restricting where Louisiana residents can go.

The Senate Committee of Judiciary A approved the legislation without objection Tuesday despite concerns that residents may have to buy passports to travel inside the states and to enter federal buildings.

House Bill 715 directs the state Department of Public Safety & Corrections not to implement the federal REAL ID Act of 2005.

Created after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, REAL ID is a law that establishes minimum standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and personal identification cards, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Web site.

REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards would allow citizens to board a federally regulated airplane or access a federal facility or a nuclear power plant, the site states.

State Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles and sponsor of House Bill 715, said the federal act was passed by Congress as part of an amendment to a bill that was not debated. He said the measure is an unfunded mandate, requiring states to do the work without providing any money to do it.

State Rep. Jonathan Perry, who also spoke in favor of HB715, said the federal act is putting in motion the types of government controls he heard about as a child.

The legislation that enacted the program gives the federal government open-ended authority to include biometric information, like a person’s retinal scan, fingerprint and genetic information, said Perry, R-Kaplan.

“The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either,” Perry said, quoting one of the nation’s founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. “I think it’s very dangerous for what we’re moving to.”

Sen. Edwin Murray, D-New Orleans, raised concerns that if the state does not comply with the mandate as the federal deadline approaches, Louisiana residents will pay for it in other ways.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Web site states that if a state chooses not to comply with the act, its driver’s licenses and identification cards will no longer be acceptable for official federal purposes.

“Individuals of the non-compliant states can still present other forms of acceptable identification such as a U.S. passport to board federally regulated commercial aircraft and access federal facilities,” the site states.

“But what we believe will happen is the federal government will revisit this issue and deal with some of these issues before we get to that point,” Geymann said.