Pennsylvania's 5-year debate over federal ID requirements gets a plan


BY CHARLES THOMPSON 

The state Senate passed an amended "Real ID" bill Tuesday that's expected to hit Gov. Tom Wolf's desk tomorrow and keep Pennsylvanians free this summer to fly to DisneyWorld or to enter federal courthouses and military bases.

The state House earlier this month crafted a bill giving Pennsylvanians the option of choosing either a drivers' license that's Real ID-compliant, or a standard-issue driver's license/photo identification card.

The final language, which the Senate inserted in a Rules Committee vote earlier Tuesday, retained that two-tier concept, and specifies that the state cannot mandate Real ID cards for all residents.

The bill also plainly states, as a matter of legislative intent, that persons opting for the Real ID cards should bear the cost of the enhanced identification card system.

The state Department of Transportation will be required to make an annual accounting of costs to the General Assembly to help demonstrate that the costs of the two systems are segregated.


PennDOT will also be expected to inform residents about the differences between the two cards as they come up for a renewal.

The bill passed finally on a 49-1 vote that marked an uneasy truce in a battle that, five years ago, saw Pennsylvania lawmakers spurn the federal requirements as costly overreach of federal authority.

Supporters said Tuesday that initial resistance here and elsewhere had forced the federal Department of Homeland Security to ease some of its initial requirements.

Now, they said, it is time for the legislature to compromise so parents can drive onto military bases to greet sons and daughters returning from overseas tours, and contractors working in federal buildings can continue to do their jobs.

"Now it is time for us to do the right thing again," said Sen. Kim Ward, R-Westmoreland County and the bill's prime sponsor.

"We need to acknowledge that complying with Real ID will not adversely impact the Commonwealth, as it might have in 2012, but non-compliance will mean more than just simple inconveniences for many of our constituents."

The lone 'no' vote came from Sen. Scott Hutchinson, a Republican from Venango County.

The two-tiered system was an important marker sought by many House members, including State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County.

He wanted individuals to have the choice of deciding whether they need one of the more secure IDs.

And, he added, "taxpayers and other drivers shouldn't have to subsidize those costs. ... Let the recipient bear the cost of the product if they're going to ultimately choose to get it in that two-tiered system."

Pennsylvania is one of eight states that's been given until June 6 to establish a plan to comply with new federal rules designed to improve the reliability and accuracy of all state-issued identification documents.

The federal Real ID Act accomplishes that by setting new minimum standards to obtain identification cards, such as requiring a raised birth certificate and proof of legal residency.

It also prohibits federal agencies from accepting licenses and identification cards from states that don't meet these standards, or that don't have new counterfeit-resistant features on the cards themselves.

Proponents say the enhancements will make it more difficult for terrorists to evade detection by using false IDs.

Opponents, however, have historically complained about it being another unfunded federal mandate on the states, as well as fears about federal invasion of privacy as the data is shared nationally.


Largely on those grounds, state lawmakers here repudiated the Real ID program five years ago.

The debate changed last year, however, when federal Homeland Security advised that non-complying states' driver's licenses, by themselves, would no longer be considered a strong enough identification to grant access to federal military bases, courthouses or nuclear power plants.

By 2018, the ability to board commercial air flights would also have been jeopardized without other forms of identification like a U.S. passport or military ID card.

Two-tiered systems have been approved by the feds in other states.

A Wolf Administration source said Tuesday the revised bill seems to satisfy all the necessary requirements and - assuming a final ratification by the state House on Wednesday - the governor is expected to sign it.

With a new compliance plan in place, Homeland Security officials are expected to grant additional extensions covering Pennsylvanians through October 2020, or until the new program is up and running.

Thirteen other states are currently in that boat.