BILL NUMBER: AJR 51	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nava

                        MARCH 10, 2008

   Relative to the REAL ID Act of 2005.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 51, as introduced, Nava. REAL ID Act of 2005: implementation.
   This measure would urge the California Congressional delegation to
support measures to repeal the REAL ID Act of 2005 or to at least
delay its implementation until such time as its costs are federally
funded and amendments are made to reduce its costs and administrative
burdens on the states and to preserve essential states' rights and
the civil rights and liberties of American drivers.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, In May 2005, the Congress of the United States passed the
REAL ID Act of 2005 (REAL ID) as part of the Emergency Supplemental
Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami
Relief Act, 2005 (Public Law 109-13), which was signed into law on
May 11, 2005, and which becomes fully effective on May 11, 2008; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID was passed without sufficient deliberation by
Congress and never received a hearing by any congressional committee
or any vote solely on its own merits; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID prohibits, by 2014, federal agencies and
federally regulated commercial aircrafts from accepting a driver's
license or identification card issued by a state that has not fully
complied with REAL ID; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID will be a costly unfunded mandate on the state,
with the National Governors' Association, the National Conference of
State Legislators, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators estimating that REAL ID will cost at least $11 billion
nationally over the next five years; and
   WHEREAS, Implementation of REAL ID could cost the State of
California in the neighborhood of $500 million at a time when the
state is grappling with an estimated $14 billion budget deficit; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID will effectively reverse the state's efforts to
reduce licensees' interactions with the California Department of
Motor Vehicles, because its complex verification process will
preclude renewals by mail or via the Internet; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID will thus likely place enormous burdens on
consumers seeking a new or, a renewal of their, driver's license,
including longer lines, higher costs, and increased document requests
and waiting periods; and
   WHEREAS, California, under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution
of the United States, has always exercised its exclusive power to
establish standards and regulations for the issuance of California
state driver's licenses and California state identification cards;
and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID wrongly coerces states into doing the federal
government's bidding by threatening to refuse to the citizens of
noncomplying states the privileges and immunities enjoyed by the
citizens of other states; and
   WHEREAS, REAL ID mandates that California link parts of its
database to the departments of motor vehicles of all other states, in
effect creating a single shared national database containing
information on every American driver that exposes every state to the
information security weaknesses of every other state and threatens
the privacy of every American; and
   WHEREAS, The Federal Trade Commission estimates that 10 million
Americans are victims of identity theft annually and these thieves
are increasingly targeting motor vehicle departments, and REAL ID
could facilitate the crime of identity theft by making the personal
information of all Americans including name, date of birth, gender,
driver's license or identification card number, digital photograph,
address, and signature accessible from tens of thousands of
locations; and
   WHEREAS, The "common machine-readable technology" required by REAL
ID could convert state-issued driver licenses and identification
cards into tracking devices, allowing computers to note and record a
person's whereabouts each time he or she is identified; and
   WHEREAS, At least 17 other states have passed legislation that, to
one degree or another, opposes the implementation of REAL ID; and
   WHEREAS, More than 600 organizations opposed the passage of REAL
ID; and
   WHEREAS, The federal government has failed to show any measurable
evidence that the implementation of REAL ID will make our borders
more secure and better protect our citizens from terrorism; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California
supports the government of the United States in its campaign against
terrorism and affirms the commitment of the United States that the
campaign not be waged at the expense of states' rights or the
essential civil rights or liberties of residents of this country that
are protected under the United States Constitution and the Bill of
Rights; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature urges the California Congressional
delegation to support measures to repeal REAL ID or at least to delay
its implementation until such time as its implementation costs are
federally funded and amendments are made to reduce its costs and
administrative burdens on the state and to preserve essential states'
rights and the civil rights and liberties of American drivers; and
be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority
Leader of the Senate, each Senator and Representative from California
in the Congress of the United States, the Attorney General of the
United States Department of Justice, and the Governor of California.