Thursday, February 27, 2014
Seeking Answers as to the Delay of REAL ID
Today
I distributed the follow press release regarding Massachusetts not yet
complying with the Federal REAL ID Act of 2005:
Tarr Leads
Coalition of Legislators Seeking Answers as to the Delay of REAL ID
Federal Act
Could Have Real Consequences if MA Does Not Comply in Immediate Future
Boston- Today Senate
Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester) and a coalition of 31 legislators
sent a letter to Governor Deval Patrick seeking answers as to why the
Massachusetts Department of Transportation has yet to comply with the Federal
REAL ID Act of 2005. The act, which
codifies the standards of state licenses and IDs, was passed following a
recommendation by the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United
States (“9/11 Commission”).
In their letter, the coalition of
legislators wrote “Aside from the fact that the REAL ID Act is a federal law,
the REAL ID standards themselves represent important elements for driver’s
license security.” The legislators
further wrote “…our state may be magnetized for criminals and others to
fraudulently obtain valid Massachusetts driver’s licenses and identification
cards under assumed or fictitious identities.”
If Massachusetts does not join the
majority of states in moving towards compliancy, citizens of the Commonwealth
could be severely impacted. An
announcement made by the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on
December 20, 2013 listed Massachusetts among a small list of states that remain
noncompliant with the federal law, and in that announcement the DHS provided a
schedule of four successive enforcement phases.
Those phases include:
- The
restriction of Department of Homeland Security Headquarters on April 21, 2014;
-
The
restriction of some federal facilities and nuclear power plants on July 21,
2014;
-
The
semi-restriction of the remaining Federal facilities on January 19, 2015; and
-
The
restriction of federally regulated aircraft transportation no sooner than
January 2016.
Seeking
to sufficiently clarify the reasons Massachusetts has yet to comply, the
legislators ask in their letter to Governor Patrick “Has the RMV opted to move
forward with the further actions necessary to bring the Commonwealth into
compliance with the Real ID Act, and, if not why is Massachusetts not moving
forward?”
On
March 5, 2013 the Senate Republican Caucus sent a letter to Governor Patrick seeking
information as to Massachusetts’ progress in complying with the federal act. Unfortunately, at that time, the caucus did
not receive a formal response regarding the Commonwealth’s status.
“We
need to work together to take the necessary actions to deal effectively with
this important issue for homeland security and public safety,” wrote the
legislators in their February 27th letter.
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