SENATE, No. 2138

Whereas, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts recognizes the Constitution of the United States of America as our national charter of liberty and democracy, and the Bill of Rights as affirming fundamental and inalienable right of Americans, including the freedom of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches; and

Whereas, the Constitution establishes the principle of sovereign states joined within a federal system through Article Four and Amendment Ten; and the Congress of the United States has further clarified that relationship between federal and state governments by enactment of a policy to restrict the imposition of unfunded federal mandates by passage of Public Law 104-4, the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995; and

Whereas, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the birthplace of our national freedom, has a diverse population whose contributions are vital to the state’s economy, culture, and civic character; and

Whereas, the people of Massachusetts are justifiably proud of its historic tradition of protecting civil rights and liberties of all of its residents, affirming the fundamental rights of all people; and

Whereas, the licensing of motor vehicle drivers and the registration of motor vehicles has been considered as a state responsibility for more than one hundred years; and

Whereas, contrary to this constitutional and legal basis for relations with state governments, especially as they pertain to the licensing of motor vehicle drivers, the Congress of the United States, without sufficient deliberation and without any public hearing or vote specifically on its merits, enacted, despite opposition from over six hundred organizations; Public Law 109- 13, the Real ID Act, imposing new, restrictive and expensive mandates upon the residents of the several states and territories of this nation; and

Whereas, under the guise of protecting Americans from terrorism, the implementation of the Real ID Act has the consequence of restricting the freedoms and privacy of Americans while imposing a costly financial burden and inconvenience; and

Whereas, a preliminary study published by the National Governor’s Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, has projected initial state costs for implementation of the Real ID Act at more than one billion dollars with five year implementation costs in excess of eleven bill dollars, for which the Congress has appropriated only forty million dollars; and Whereas, the Real ID Act requires the creation of a massive public sector database containing information on every American that is accessible to motor vehicle employees and law enforcement officers nationwide that can be used to gather and manage information on citizens; and

Whereas, the Real ID act enables the creation of additional massive private sector databases, combining both the transactional information and driver’s license information gained from scanning the machine readable information contained on every driver’s license; and

Whereas, these public and private sector databases are likely to contain numerous errors and false information, creating a significant hardship for Americans attempting to verify their identities in order to fly on airlines, open a bank account, or perform any of the numerous functions required to live in the United States today; and

Whereas, the federal trade commission estimates that ten million Americans are victims of identity theft annually, and, because identity thieves are increasingly targeting motor vehicle departments, the Real ID Act will enable the crime of identity theft by making the personal information of all Americans, including date of birth and signature, accessible from tens of thousands of locations; and

Whereas, the Real ID Act requires a driver’s license to contain a person’s actual home address and makes no exception for individuals in potential danger, such as undercover law enforcement or victims of stalking, domestic violence, or criminal harassment; and

Whereas, the Real ID Act contains onerous record verification and retention provision that place unreasonable burdens on the Registry of Motor Vehicles, and third parties required to verify records, including the offices of municipal clerks and the state Department of Public Health, and

Whereas, the Real ID Act will place enormous burdens on consumers seeking new or renewed driver’s licenses such as longer lines and waiting times, higher costs, increased document requests and waiting periods; and

Whereas, the Real ID Act will place state Registry of Motor Vehicles staff on the front lines of immigration enforcement by forcing state employees to determine federal citizenship and immigration status, as well as imposing burdens on elderly citizens who may have emigrated to the United States from war torn regions that may no longer have access to birth records, thereby excessively burdening both foreign-born applicants and Registry staff; and

Whereas, the federal rules advising states on the details have yet to be finalized, while the date for implementation in May 2008 remains fixed making it impossible for states to consider statutory changes, administrative procedure revisions, appropriate funds and acquire adequate equipment and software in a thoughtful and timely manner consistent with the state appropriations process and public procurement and staffing regulations; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, that the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts supports the government of the United States in its campaign against terrorism, while affirming the commitment of the United States that the campaign not be waged at the expense of the essential civil rights and liberties of the citizens of this country; and be it further

Resolved, that it is the policy of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to oppose any portion of the Real ID Act that violates the rights and liberties guaranteed under the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, including the Bill of Rights; and be it further

Resolved, that the Massachusetts General Courts shall enact no legislation nor authorize any appropriation to further the implementation of the Real ID Act in Massachusetts, unless such appropriation is used exclusively for the purpose of undertaking a comprehensive analysis of the costs of implementing the Real ID Act or to mount a constitutional challenge by the Attorney General of the Commonwealth; or until the federal government assumes its responsibility to provide adequate funding to the states for implementation, including up front funding as part of the FY 2008 federal budget; and be it further

Resolved, that copies of this resolve be forwarded to the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to support measures to either fund or repeal the Real ID Act, and to extend the time for its implementation; and be it further

Resolved, that copies of this resolve be transmitted to President George W. Bush, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, and the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives.