I would hazard a guess that you won’t often find the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and State Rep. Diana Fessler on the same side of many issues. But the ACLU of Ohio is supporting HCR 18 which was introduced by Rep. Fessler last month. It’s a joint resolution that calls on the President and the U.S. Congress to repeal the Real ID Act of 2005. There will be sponsor testimony today (6/13/07) on the resolution before the Ohio House Infrastructure, Homeland Security & Veterans Affairs Committee at 2:30 p.m in room 114.

The federal REAL ID (Identification) Act of 2005 was signed into law on May 11, 2005. This act in effect created a national ID by requiring state IDs to meet federal requirements by May 2008. State motor vehicle departments are also required to create a national database. On March 1, 2007, after many months of delay, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security finally issued draft regulations to instruct states on how to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005. It’s projected that the total cost of implementing these new rules will rise above $23 billion.

While the ACLU objections are primarily related to privacy concerns, I've wondered about the impact of these new requirments on low-income persons who will be hard pressed to afford the increased cost of obtaining a drivers license as well as the time of work that will likely be required for multiple visits to the bureau of motor vehicles. Is anyone else following this issue?