Senator Collins Forges Agreement With DHS To Give States More Time To Implement Real ID Act
SENATOR COLLINS FORGES AGREEMENT WITH DHS TO GIVE STATES MORE TIME TO IMPLEMENT REAL ID ACT
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today announced its proposed rules for Real ID, which include an agreement the Department made with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) to give states more time to implement the new regulations. DHS also agreed to reestablish a rulemaking committee that Senator Collins' had originally created in order to allow states and other interested parties to have a formal role in the rulemaking process. Senator Collins today called this agreement with DHS "major progress," but also pledged to continue to work to help states with the cost of complying with the new law.
"These two major concessions by the Department - the extension for compliance and the reconvening of the negotiated rulemaking committee - are major steps forward. But they do not solve all of the issues and all of the problems with the Real ID Act, the biggest of which is the huge cost of compliance," said Senator Collins. "I am pledging today to continue to work very closely with our state leaders and with DHS to calculate what the actual costs of compliance are going to be and to work to try to find some funding to assist states in the cost of compliance."
Senator Collins had introduced an amendment in the Senate that called for extending the deadline by which states would need to comply with Real ID until two years after the final regulations were finalized. As a result of negotiations between Senator Collins and DHS, the Department agreed to allow states to request a deadline extension through December 31, 2009, simply by stating that the Department's delay in promulgating final regulations has not allowed states enough time to consider the final rule. This agreement worked out by Senator Collins and DHS addresses one of the major problems that state leaders, the National Governors Association, and the National Conference of State Legislatures had identified with the Real ID Act. Without the delay, states would have been required to be in full compliance with Real ID by May 2008, even though DHS had yet to issue the regulations giving states detailed guidance on how to comply with law. The NGA and NCSL have supported Senator Collins' efforts.
"This is significant progress. The Department has finally recognized that it was simply unfair to impose this burden on the states to set such an unrealistic compliance date when the Department had failed to issue the regulations," said Senator Collins. "So the Department announced today that any state that seeks an additional two years to comply with the regulations will be granted that extension. This is major progress."
Senator Collins' amendment also called for the negotiated-rulemaking committee, created under the Collins-Lieberman Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, to be reconvened to provide comment to DHS on the proposed regulations. This committee was composed of federal officials, state officials - including Maine Secretary of State Matt Dunlap - and representatives from other interested parties, who were working to create standards that would provide secure identification without unduly burdening states and without threatening fundamental privacy protections. DHS agreed that it will invite the members of the negotiated-rulemaking committee to the Department to provide oral comments on the proposed regulation.
Following today's announcement by DHS, Senator Collins withdrew her amendment.
To date, Congress has appropriated about $40 million to help states comply with the Real ID Act. The National Governors Association estimates the five-year cost for states to comply with the law is $11 billion.
"Clearly if the costs do prove to be that high, we have an obligation to come forward and assist the states in the cost of compliance," said Senator Collins.
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