New Hampshire Not Participating in Real ID

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Jun 27, 2007, News Report

Governor John Lynch today signed into law legislation prohibiting New Hampshire from participating in the federal Real ID system.

"Real ID is intended to make us all safer, which I think we can all agree is a laudable goal. However, I strongly believe Real ID's proposed haphazard implementation and onerous provisions would have the exact opposite effect. The federal government obviously did not think this burdensome system through and that is why we in New Hampshire are right to reject it," Lynch said.

Lynch continues to have many concerns regarding Real ID, including the cost, the impact on the privacy of our citizens and the burden it will place on state government employees.

"Today, we are sending a strong message to the federal government -- we are not about to be coerced into another unfunded federal mandate, especially not one that we will pay for with our privacy," Lynch said.

House Bill 685 was passed unanimously by the Senate and received overwhelming support in the House.

The legislation was sponsored by Reps. Neal Kurk, Jay Phinizy, Joel Winters, Lars Christiansen, Susan Almy, and Sen. Peter Burling.

Comments

No REAL ID
By Anonymous on Jul 6, 2007

Thank God someone had the fortitude to step up and renounce this. It will do nothing - NOTHING to stop terrorism. (All a terrorist has to do is find someone who looks vaguely similar to them, get rid of them and take their REAL ID- and they''re all set to go anywhere). And the "Big Brother" issue is a real concern; Once you have a de facto national ID, it will never, ever go away, and will likely only infringe more on personal privacy and freedoms over time.

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Should be a Fed Issued ID
By Anonymous on Jun 29, 2007

Yes, It would be much cheaper if we just had a centrally generated Federally issued Real ID, rather than tying this to the State's driver's license. But of course, people whined about that too. Afraid of big brother, blah blah blah. I see lots of whining, but no valid solutions being brought forward on fixing the issue. Ironically, many of those whining are the same ones complaining about the illegal immigrants taking their jobs.

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Real ID
By Anonymous on Jun 28, 2007

New Hampshire has made an excellent decision. Other states should follow suit, and tell the federal government that citizens/taxpayers will no longer tolerate this type of shoddy, haphazard way of doing business. It's time for the states to to take back their rights and their states and not be held hostage by the bureaucrats in Washington. These folks are out of control, and only citizens, taxpayers, and states can send a clear message to a failing congress..."We're made as heck, and we won't take it anymore!"