Defund, repeal REAL ID

Rather than criticizing Gov. Matt Bevin for refusing to go along with an unfunded federal mandate (“Feds deny Kentucky more time to comply with tougher driver’s license rules”), U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth should work to defund and repeal the REAL ID Act.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is trying to browbeat elected officials in Kentucky and other states into compliance with this national ID program, which threatens Americans’ privacy and data security.

REAL ID offers little in the way of increased security — on that Yarmuth is right — but it does require all states to share their driver databases across a national network. That would put Kentucky drivers at risk for the kinds of massive data breaches that have hit banks, credit-card companies, and the very federal government that is pushing the law.

DHS has consistently failed to provide clear answers to states on REAL ID implementation, and it has changed compliance deadlines many times since it abandoned the original May, 2008, deadline. REAL ID should not be Kentucky’s problem. Congress should defund and repeal the law, freeing the governor and General Assembly to set Kentucky’s driver licensing policies.

Jim Harper

The Cato Institute

Washington, D.C.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 9:06 PM with the headline "Defund, repeal REAL ID."