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NCSL Analysis on the Real ID Archive

Since 2005, NCSL has provided thorough and timely analysis on the Real ID and federal requirments for the issuance of state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards. The archive provides a quick link to select NCSL analysis on the Real ID and corresponding materials.

• NCSL President, Representative Donna Stone of Delaware, testifies on the Real ID before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia.  (April 2008)
  Summary: On April 29, Delaware Representative Donna Stone, NCSL’s president, testified before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on the REAL ID Act and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. This was only the second time Congress has taken testimony on the 2005 REAL ID Act. Speaking from NCSL policy, Representative Stone recommended the passage of S. 717, bipartisan legislation that would repeal the REAL ID Act and reinstitute a negotiated rulemaking process.  She also urged full funding of the REAL  ID Act’s federal mandates ($1 billion for the initial year of implementation). While crediting the administration with providing states additional time and flexibility to implement the REAL ID, Representative Stone stated that a negotiated rulemaking, that would include state legislators, “could address … issues … such as verification requirement waivers, transaction fees, privacy protections [and] governance of databases.”  These issues did not receive the attention needed or were overlooked in the Department of Homeland Security’s final regulations issued three months ago. Representative Stone also called on Congress and the administration to “cease cost-shifts to states and fund mandated standards like REAL ID.” S. 717 is in the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee, some of whose members received visits from state legislators last week during NCSL’s Spring Forum.

• NCSL Analysis of the DHS Final Regulations to Implement the Real ID (January 2008)
  Summary: NCSL will be providing a series of documents that summarize different sections of the final regulations to implement the Real ID. In addition, this includes a comparison of the final regulations and the recommendations included in the September 2006 report— The Real ID: National Impact Analysis—issued by NCSL, governors and motor vehicle administrators. 
  
  
• Legislators and Governors Submit Comments on Draft Regulations to Implement the Real ID  (May 2007)
  Summary: In response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for regulations to implement the Real ID, the governors, state legislatures and motor vehicle administrators submit comments and recommendations to the Department of Homeland Security.
  
  
• NCSL President, Senator Leticia Van de Putte, Testifies Before Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee (March 2007)  
  Summary: Senator Leticia Van de Putte, NCSL President, outlines NCSL concerns with the draft regulations and proposed implementation of the Real ID. Senator Van de Putte makes a number of recommendations on how to fix the Real ID; she also urges Congress to provide states with funds to assist with the implementation of the Real ID. 
  
  
• NCSL Analysis of the DHS Draft Regulations to Implement the Real ID (March 2007)
  Summary: NCSL is providing a series of documents that summarize different sections of the regulations. In addition, this includes a comparison of the requirements to the recommendations included in the September 2006 report— The Real ID: National Impact Analysis—issued by NCSL, governors and motor vehicle administrators. 
  
  
• Real ID Act: National Impact Analysis  (September 2006)  
  Summary: To ensure Congress and the federal government understand the fiscal and operational impact of altering these complex and vital state systems, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) in conjunction with the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) conducted a nationwide survey of state motor vehicle agencies (DMVs). Based on the results of that survey, NGA, NCSL and AAMVA conclude that Real ID will cost more than $11 billion over five years, have a major impact on services to the public and impose unrealistic burdens on states to comply with the act by the May 2008 deadline.  The organizations also provide practical and cost effective solutions for Congress and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to address these shortcomings and meet the objectives of the act. (  download PDF version, 60 pages: Real ID Act: National Impact Analysis)