Budgets and Revenue Committee

Re: Real ID provisions in substitute amendment 1150—The Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act of 2007—to S. 1348

Dear Senator:

As you consider immigration reform on the Senate floor, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) urges you to:

• support efforts to strike Sections 302 (c)(1)(C)(ii)(II) and (c)(1)(F), which would expand the “official purpose” of the Real ID and effectively mandate states to implement the Real ID;
• amend the grant program established in Section 306 to ensure that all states that choose to participate in the Real ID are provided federal funds for implementation of this $11 billion mandate; and
• strike Section 306(i), which allows grant funds to be used for purposes other than state implementation of the Real ID. 

Below are detailed justifications for the requested changes.

Support efforts to strike Sections 302 (c)(1)(C)(ii)(II) and (c)(1)(F), which would expand the “official purpose” of the Real ID and mandate states to implement the Real ID.
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 “official purposes.”  The Real ID Act of 2005 (contained in P.L. 109-13) defines “official purpose” as including but not limited to accessing federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants and any other purposes that the Secretary shall determine.  The draft regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) proposed to limit the “official purpose” to the three purposes listed in the public law. 

Provisions in Section 302 would in effect expand the “official purpose” of the Real ID to include securing employment.  The section requires all citizens to present either a Real ID compliant DL/ID or a U.S. Passport to establish both employment authorization and identity in order to be hired by an employer.  

Under current law, the Real ID will be a form of identification employers can use in the future to verify an individual’s lawful presence in the country.  However, it is impossible for states to reissue the 245 million existing DL/ID cardholders by 2013.  This is due to a number of reasons including the fact that only one of the five databases necessary for document verification is currently available on a national level and the absence of final regulations from DHS.  In addition, a number of states have already chosen not to participate in the Real ID.  If  Sections 302 (c)(1)(C)(ii)(II) and (c)(1)(F) are not removed from the current proposal, all citizens in those states would have to obtain a U.S. Passport in order to be eligible for employment.  Again, NCSL urges you to remove Sections 302 (c)(1)(C)(ii)(II) and (c)(1)(F), which would expand the “official purpose” of the Real ID and mandate states to implement the Real ID Act.

Amend the grant program established in Section 306 to ensure that all states that choose to participate in the Real ID are provided federal funds for implementation of this mandate.
Any grant program for Real ID implementation must ensure that all states that choose to comply with the Real ID are provided a minimum level of federal funds.  The program should not be a competitive grant left to the discretion of the Secretary. 

Strike Section 306(i), which allows for grant funds to be used for purposes other than state implementation of the Real ID. 
NCSL urges you to consider striking Section 306(i) regarding additional uses of the grant funds.  Under the proposed legislation, the authorized funds under this section may also be used to assist in sharing law enforcement information between states and DHS for purposes of implementing section 602 (c), at the discretion of the Secretary.  A comprehensive survey conducted by NCSL, the National Governors Association and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administration estimates implementation costs of $11 billion over five years. DHS concluded state implementation costs could be $10 billion to $14 billion over 10 years.  Section 306 would authorize $300 million for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.  Given the fact that this amount is a modest down payment for the cost to states, it is critical that ALL of these funds be made available for state implementation of the Real ID.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of our concerns.  For additional assistance and information, please have your staff contact Molly Ramsdell (202-624-3584; molly.ramsdell@ncsl.org) or Jeremy Meadows (202-624-8664; jeremy.meadows@ncsl.org) in NCSL’s Washington, D.C. office.

Sincerely,

Senator Leticia Van de Putte
Texas Senate
President, National Conference of State Legislatures