WHTM
Pennsylvania has become the 16th state to refuse compliance with the federal Real ID Act.
Gov. Tom Corbett on Wednesday signed into law Senate Bill 354, a bill that prohibits the state from participating in the requirements of law.
The federal REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005 in response to recommendations from the 9-11 Commission, mandates that states turn driver’s licenses into a national identification card.
State driver’s licenses would not be accepted for federal purposes, including boarding an aircraft or entering a federal facility, unless they met numerous criteria.
REAL ID also requires states to share motor vehicle databases.
Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, said he authored Senate Bill 354 because he was concerned that personal information, including birth certificates and Social Security cards, could not be kept confidential.
“The federal government said this plan will protect Americans from terrorists, but I believe it would redefine privacy as we know it, create a mountain of new bureaucracy and increase fees and taxes — without making us any safer,” Folmer said in a statement Wednesday.
Folmer said it is anticipated that compliance with the unfunded federal mandate would come at a price tag of $11 billion to already financially strapped states.
The federal government has set a deadline of January 15, 2013 for states to comply.
Read more: http://www.abc27.com/story/18243023/pa-becomes-most-populous-state-to-oppose-real-id