[Infowarrior] - Real ID. vs. the states

[Richard Forno]

Real ID. vs. the states

By Anne Broache and Declan McCullagh
Staff Writers, CNET News.com
February 4, 2008 4:00 AM PST

Editor's note: A May deadline looms as just one flash point in a political
showdown between Homeland Security and states that oppose Real ID demands.
This is the first in four-part series examining the confrontation.

Shipyard Brewing Company's Maine ales, handcrafted in a former foundry on
Portland's waterfront from malted barley, buckets of hop leaves, and Sebago
Lake water, have risen to regional prominence. In 2007, the 14-year-old
company shipped just more than 1 million cases.

Expanding sales of Shipyard Export Ale, Old Thumper Extra Special, and
Bluefin Stout beyond New England has meant trips out of Portland's airport
every other week for Fred Forsley, the company's co-founder and president.
Forsley, 47, says his most frequent sales calls are to customers in Florida,
New York, California, and Arizona.

But starting on May 11, Forsley may no longer be permitted to use his Maine
driver's license to fly out of the Portland International Jetport. Under the
federal Real ID Act, which the Bush administration has touted as an
antiterrorist measure, federal screeners could be required to reject it as
invalid identification.

"I have been assuming the issue would get addressed and streamlined,"
Forsley said. "But now I can see I have to really pay attention."

Forsley is hardly alone. In just more than three months, millions of
law-abiding Americans might face new hassles when traveling on commercial
flights if they hold driver's licenses or identification cards issued by
Maine, South Carolina, Montana, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, and up to 15 other
states plus the District of Columbia that have rejected the Real ID
regulations on privacy and cost grounds or have not agreed to comply. (See
the accompanying map.)

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