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View Full Version : Louisiana Senate Committee approves REAL ID regulations for driver's licenses




mrsat_98
05-23-2014, 11:48 AM
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/05/louisiana_senate_committee_con.html

A Louisiana Senate Committee has approved legislation to allow state citizens to access a driver's license that complies with the federal regulations known as REAL ID, allaying fears that Louisiana residents might have difficulties boarding a plane in a couple of years with the current state identification offered. The legislation will now head to the full Senate for consideration.

"This is about boarding a plane and boarding a train," said Louisiana's State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson during the committee meeting.

The legislation would give state citizens an option to acquire a driver's license that meets the requirements of REAL ID. But people would not be forced to have a REAL ID license in Louisiana if they didn't want one.

Federal law dictates that a REAL ID-compliant license will be needed by 2016 to board a plane or enter certain government buildings easily. Those who don't have one might be subjected to extra layers of security.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Karen St. Germain, D-Plaquemine, has included an "opt out" provision, allowing Louisiana residents who might be wary of REAL ID to still get driver's licenses that don't align with all of the federal regulations.

"I have many people telling me 'Thank you, at least you are giving me an option,'" said St. Germain about the legislation.

Louisiana and several other states enacted a prohibition against the REAL ID requirements in 2008, amid concerns about federal government intrusion. At the time, some people considered the federal REAL ID requirements a backdoor way to establish a national identification card. Since then, the federal government has removed some of the more controversial portions of REAL ID, such as a chip implanted in driver's licenses that would have allowed them to be tracked.

DamianTV
05-23-2014, 11:54 AM
Baby steps are incremental in eventually making this not only mandatory, but lays the foundation for a biometric implanted version in the future.