Legislators’ negligence on driver licenses backfires

OFIR has fought long and hard against issuing driver licenses to illegal aliens and in favor of Oregon becoming compliant with the Real ID Act.

“The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, enacted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the Federal Government set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses.  The Act established minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibits Federal agencies from accepting for certain purposes driver’s licenses and identification cards from states not meeting the Act’s minimum standards.” – Department of Homeland Security.

Now, 15 years after the Act was passed, the deadline looms, on Oct. 1, for states to comply, or its citizens lose convenient access to air travel.

Not so surprisingly, the Oregon legislature and our governor have blocked efforts to pass the necessary Real ID measures. In essence, they have been and still are, putting the interests of illegal aliens above the safety and well-being of citizens.   Now citizens face an impossible rush to get Real ID compliant i.d.   Take a moment to read the article that appeared in Sunday’s Oregonian.

Editorial: Oregonians pay the price for legislators’ Real ID protest

Sunday, January 26, 2020  -  By The Oregonian Editorial Board

Boy, Oregon legislators sure showed the federal government a thing or two, didn’t they?

Even though Congress mandated 15 years ago that states adopt stricter standards for issuing driver’s licenses, Oregon lawmakers refused for years to spend a dime of state money to comply with the Real ID Act. Instead, the state sought extensions from the federal government and largely ignored the upgrade requirements, arguing that the federal government should pay for them. But in 2017, Oregon legislators finally gave in and authorized spending to meet the requirements. Oregon, which is poised to begin issuing the federally-approved licenses in July, will likely be, the last in the country to come into compliance with the law.

Legislators may feel their futile protest was a virtuous one, but Oregonians are the ones paying the price. Starting Oct. 1, all air travelers must have either a Real ID-compliant driver’s license, a passport or passport card in order to fly in the United States. Unfortunately, because the state won’t start issuing those new licenses until July 6, there’s not nearly enough time for it to meet expected demand before the Oct. 1 deadline. As The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Andrew Theen reported, the state typically issues 600,000 to 700,000 renewals and replacement cards in an entire year. But there are about 3.25 million Oregonians with drivers’ licenses that won’t meet the new standard. …

Read the rest of the editorial here.