Information Alert
National Conference of State Legislatures
Office of State-Federal Relations
May 25, 2007
House Appropriations Subcommittee Provides only $50 million for Real ID
During the Memorial Day recess (May 28- June 1), contact your congressional delegation and urge them to include $1.0 billion in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for FY 2008 to assist states with implementation of the Real ID.
On May 18, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security approved the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. The bill provides only $50 million to assist states with the implementation of the Real ID. This is far short of the $1 billion needed for start-up costs, as identified by NCSL, the National Governors Association (NGA) and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) in the report— The Real ID: National Impact Analysis. The House bill will be considered by the full committee in the weeks following the recess. Senate action will follow.
The Real ID requires states to implement new federal standards for the issuance of driver’s licenses (DL) and identification cards (ID) by May 2008, or the federal government will not recognize the state’s DL/ID for federal purposes. Congress failed to appropriate any funds in FY 2007 to assist states with the implementation of the Real ID and appropriated only $40 million in FY 2006. The NGA/NCSL/AAMVA study estimates implementation costs of $11 billion over five years, with $1 billion in start-up costs. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) concluded that state implementation costs could be $10 billion to $14 billion over 10 years. Federal funds must be provided immediately for successful implementation of the Real ID.
NCSL’s official policy statement calls for repeal of Real ID if, by December 31 2007, Congress fails to adopt the necessary changes as outlined in the September 2006 report—The Real ID: National Impact Analysis—and if it fails to provide full funding for the law. NCSL is currently working with members of Congress to address these concerns.
For your convenience, the names of House and Senate appropriators are attached.
Additional resources on the Real ID are available on NCSL’s Web page: www.ncsl.org/realid
For more information contact NCSL staff Molly Ramsdell (Molly.Ramsdell@ncsl.org, 202-624-3584) or Jeremy Meadows (Jeremy.Meadows@ncsl.org, 202-624-8664).
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