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In Our View: REAL ID a Real Issue

Legislature must act to ease burden feds seek to impose on driver’s licenses

The Columbian
Published: December 30, 2016, 6:03am

Do you have a passport? Unless the state Legislature acts soon, you might need to get one. Beginning in January 2018, Washington driver’s licenses won’t be accepted at airport security checkpoints or at federal facilities where you need to show approved identification to enter.

The problem can be traced to the 2005 federal REAL ID Act, which requires identification that includes proof of citizenship in order to board commercial flights and enter certain federal buildings and other facilities.

In most states, driver’s licenses are considered proof of citizenship. But Washington is one of a handful of states where citizenship hasn’t been one of the questions asked on the driving test. The thought here has long been that all motorists should demonstrate their knowledge of traffic rules and ability to drive safely by obtaining a driver’s license, regardless of their immigration status. In part, this policy is motivated by the wishes of Eastern Washington, where farmworkers from Mexico and other Latin American countries often drive mechanized equipment and trucks on public roads.

The REAL ID Act was motivated by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. A commission that studied the terrorist acts recommended that commercial aviation would be safer, and terrorists would be easier to detect, if passengers had to show identification that included proof of nationality.

The relative merits of each policy can be up for debate at another time. The Department of Homeland Security has set a deadline for Washington to be in compliance.

In addition to passports and wallet-sized passport cards, the state offers a workaround in the form of the so-called enhanced driver’s license or identification card. It costs $108 for six years — double the cost of a driver’s license — and requires the applicant to provide proof of citizenship, identity and residence. A U.S. passport costs $110 plus a $25 “execution fee” for first-timers and is good for 10 years for adults.

The most recent proposal to avoid leaving people stranded at the airport comes from state Sen. Curtis King, R-Yakima, and Rep. Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, who head the Senate and House transportation committees.

At the request of the state Department of Licensing, they’ve pre-filed bills for the upcoming legislative session that provide a partial fix, or at least reduce confusion.

Their proposal calls for clearly marking standard Washington driver’s licenses as not valid for federal ID purposes. Instead, drivers would be encouraged to buy the enhanced driver’s license. As an incentive, the cost of the enhanced driver’s license would be reduced for the next four years from $108 to $90.

The King/Clibborn proposal deserves serious consideration from the Legislature. Would the bill solve the dilemma? No. It’s likely that come January 2018, there will still be Washington residents and U.S. citizens turned away at their local airport’s TSA checkpoint. And even those who have passports will need to remember to start carrying them routinely when traveling by air or running errands at a federal office building.

Still, it’s the Legislature’s duty to try to ease what will be an annoying burden.

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