Lawmakers advance bill to comply with Real ID by Oct. 1

Minnesotans could begin applying for federal Real ID Act-compliant driver’s licenses and ID cards by Oct. 1, 2016, under a bill a House committee advanced Monday.

Sponsored by Rep. Dennis Smith (R-Maple Grove), HF3959 would lay out new requirements for issuing the more secure state IDs, including new security features on the cards, added proof of residency requirements and extended data retention timelines.

The bill would bring Minnesota into compliance after a more than a decade of flouting the 2005 federal law to make state-issued IDs more secure in the face of terrorism concerns, and help the state beat a 2018 deadline that would see Minnesotans without enhanced IDs unable to board domestic commercial flights.

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Already, Minnesotans cannot gain entrance to secure federal facilities and military bases using only standard state-issued IDs. Gov. Mark Dayton has requested a new Department of Homeland Security extension to allow Minnesota IDs to be used to enter those facilities while the state works toward satisfying federal requirements.

“The clock is about to expire, and we need to act,” Smith said, warning of “significant ramifications.”

Rep. Dennis Smith

The House Civil Law and Data Practices Committee approved HF3959, as amended, and referred it to the House Government Operations and Elections Committee. It has no Senate companion.

An enhanced Real ID license would be Minnesotans’ only choice under the bill. That drew criticism from some DFLers, who tried to amend the legislation to allow for a dual-track ID system — that is, allowing those who don’t want to provide the extra data required by Real ID to obtain an unenhanced license or ID.

“People can’t understand why they’ll have to buy a passport to get on a plane or get in a federal building,” said Rep. Dan Schoen (DFL-St. Paul Park), who offered the amendment that the committee rejected by a 7-5, party-line vote.

Allowing for a dual track would draw more support from members on both sides of the aisle, he said, who have concerns over data privacy issues related to Real ID.

A law enacted in March repealed a 2009 prohibition on planning for compliance with the federal law, and Department of Public Safety officials recently presented a report mandated by that legislation that laid out estimated costs and necessary steps to bring the state into line with the Real ID standards.

The report estimated the cost to the state of becoming Real ID compliant by Oct. 1 at roughly $5 million. Much of that estimated cost is related to technology — the state would need to undertake substantial changes to a computer system that’s in the process of being phased out in order to rush toward compliance this year, said Dawn Olson, director of the department’s Driver and Vehicle Services Division.

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According to the report, delaying implementation back to January 2018, however, would save the state a substantial amount of money, with costs estimated at just $16,000 to $30,000 annually. Technology changes would be undertaken as part of the existing upgrade project, officials said, saving around $2 million.

A delay beyond October, however, would mean DVS would miss the start of a new driver’s license renewal cycle. That, Smith said, would force some Minnesotans to renew their licenses twice within a relatively short period of time.

“Everyone will be federal Real ID compliant” by the 2020 deadline when the Department of Homeland Security has said it will issue no more extensions to states that do not meet the new standards.

HF3959 includes measures that would:

• authorize expedited rulemaking for the Department of Public Safety on driver’s licenses and ID cards;
• appropriate $4 million from the driver services operating account to cover the costs of implementation;
• repeal the state ban on Real ID implementation (lawmakers last month only repealed the ban on planning);
• prohibit state departments from complying with any future Real ID Act law, process or data practices changes;
• require that applicants’ Social Security numbers are retained along with other application data;
• require proof of residency when applying for an ID;
• require applicants to sign a declaration under penalty of perjury that the information they provide is truthful; and
• require that applicant data be kept for 10 years, up from the current retention schedule of five years.