Home
News
CARSON CITY (AP) - Nevada is joining in a revolt against a national driver's license, begun in Maine last month, a key lawmaker said Tuesday.
Sen. Dennis Nolan, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said he and Assembly Transportation Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, have requested a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. Once it's ready, the entire Legislature will vote on the proposal.
"This will mirror what a number of other states have done, requesting the repeal," Nolan said, adding, "We think that there are enough mechanisms in place so that, with some minor modifications, we don't have to start over from scratch."
"We can go through the state Department of Motor Vehicles or turn this back to the federal government and let it do what it's already doing with passports," Nolan said. "That's a long-established system."
"We could start over and impose this unfunded mandate on the states, or work with one of the systems that already are in place," he added.
Nolan also said he doesn't disagree with the goal of preventing terrorists and illegal immigrants from getting fake identification cards.
The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act, which sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
About a dozen states now have active legislation against Real ID, including Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
States will have to comply by May 2008. If they do not, driver's licenses that fall short of Real ID's standards can't be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building or open some bank accounts.
Ginny Lewis, director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, has said the new federal requirements could lead to chaos, including DMV wait times for Nevadans that could double.
Lewis said that to comply with the rules, all Nevada drivers will have to go to DMV offices over a four-year period beginning in 2008 to get new, Real ID-compliant licenses. They'll need to bring birth certificates, social security cards and proof of lawful Nevada residence, Lewis said. A passport won't help, since passports don't always have legal names on them.
The federal act, which President Bush signed as part of an emergency appropriation to fund the Iraq War, will require that Nevada produce new driver's licenses or ID cards with photos that can be read by facial-recognition technology.
A draft of the new rules should be available by March, which will make it clear exactly what states need to do to comply, said Lewis. The federal government is expected to spend $11 billion to implement the law.
Lewis projected that the cost of compliance in Nevada will be about $66 million over the next four years.
Sen. Dennis Nolan, chairman of the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said he and Assembly Transportation Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, have requested a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act of 2005. Once it's ready, the entire Legislature will vote on the proposal.
"This will mirror what a number of other states have done, requesting the repeal," Nolan said, adding, "We think that there are enough mechanisms in place so that, with some minor modifications, we don't have to start over from scratch."
"We can go through the state Department of Motor Vehicles or turn this back to the federal government and let it do what it's already doing with passports," Nolan said. "That's a long-established system."
"We could start over and impose this unfunded mandate on the states, or work with one of the systems that already are in place," he added.
Nolan also said he doesn't disagree with the goal of preventing terrorists and illegal immigrants from getting fake identification cards.
The Maine Legislature on Jan. 26 overwhelmingly passed a resolution objecting to the Real ID Act, which sets a national standard for driver's licenses and requires states to link their record-keeping systems to national databases.
About a dozen states now have active legislation against Real ID, including Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.
States will have to comply by May 2008. If they do not, driver's licenses that fall short of Real ID's standards can't be used to board an airplane or enter a federal building or open some bank accounts.
Ginny Lewis, director of the state Department of Motor Vehicles, has said the new federal requirements could lead to chaos, including DMV wait times for Nevadans that could double.
Lewis said that to comply with the rules, all Nevada drivers will have to go to DMV offices over a four-year period beginning in 2008 to get new, Real ID-compliant licenses. They'll need to bring birth certificates, social security cards and proof of lawful Nevada residence, Lewis said. A passport won't help, since passports don't always have legal names on them.
The federal act, which President Bush signed as part of an emergency appropriation to fund the Iraq War, will require that Nevada produce new driver's licenses or ID cards with photos that can be read by facial-recognition technology.
A draft of the new rules should be available by March, which will make it clear exactly what states need to do to comply, said Lewis. The federal government is expected to spend $11 billion to implement the law.
Lewis projected that the cost of compliance in Nevada will be about $66 million over the next four years.
