Real ID bill awaits action

Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William, who has previously made headlines for opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, has taken on another role recently: privacy-protector.

And he’s playing the waiting game to see if the Gov. Timothy M. Kaine agrees with him.

“I don’t know what the governor’s going to do,” the Republican said Thursday.

Marshall, who represents the 13th District, sponsored a bill in this year’s Virginia General Assembly that would allow the Old Dominion to opt out of provisions of the federal Real ID Act if state residents’ privacy was endangered.

Real ID became law in 2005 as a security measure in the fight against terrorism. Some of its provisions called for states to comply with Homeland Security standards when issuing driver’s licenses and identification cards, or else citizens might be denied access to airline flights and federal buildings.

The law went into effect in May 2008, though all states received extensions for compliance. In the meantime, concern emerged that Real ID was a backdoor attempt by the feds to create a national identification card system. It would require collection and submission of cardholders’ personal information into a federal database.

Marshall was one lawmaker concerned that state residents’ privacy could be compromised. So his bill would prohibit state agencies from collecting economic data from tax returns or financial information, or personal data, including DNA, fingerprints, palm prints, facial feature patterns, retinal scans or voice data.

A companion bill was sponsored by state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, a Fairfax Republican who is running for attorney general. And the legislation, after being amended, was passed 97-0 in the House of Delegates and 39-0 in the Senate.

It now awaits a decision by Kaine. The Democrat has until Monday midnight to sign the bill, amend it or veto it, and it’s unclear what he will do.

“He hasn’t stated any position on that bill at this point,” Gordon Hickey, Kaine’s press secretary, said Thursday.

Legislators will return to Richmond on April 8 to consider Kaine’s amendments or vetoes. Almost 900 bills were passed during the General Assembly’s regular session.

Marshall noted that at least 42 states have concerns about Real ID, and they are telling Congress, “You really didn’t do this right.”

At least 10 states have passed laws saying they will not comply with Real ID requirements, he said, and 32 states have petitioned federal lawmakers to rescind or significantly amend the statute.

The Department of Homeland Security isn’t necessarily seeking personal information, Marshall said, but the problem is the federal law contains the “presumed authority” to do so.

“On the face of it, they could ask for all this kind of information,” he said.

And, Marshall said, even a pro-Real ID group has shown that 17 of the 19 9/11 hijackers still would have been able to board airplanes, even if the law had been in place and followed.

So if the idea of Real ID is to stop terrorists, it wouldn’t get the job done, he said.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.