Misgivings expressed regarding federal Real ID Act
Oregon’s property rights laws and the federal Real ID Act of 2005 were addressed by state Rep. Dennis Richardson (R-Central Point) before a chapter of the John Birch Society in Grants Pass.
Approximately 25 persons attended the Tuesday evening, July 24 meeting in Fruitdale Grange Hall.
Richardson explained that the Real ID Act was added as a rider to an Iraq War spending bill, and was not debated in Congress prior to passage. Once implemented, the law would establish a national standard for driver’s licenses.
Under the act, states have a May 2008 deadline for implementation. They may be granted an extension to December 2009 if they demonstrate progress toward implementation.
Bearers of noncompliant documents would no longer be able to enter federal buildings including posts offices; be denied financial or banking services; and face several other restrictions.
Standardized ID cards would be produced with original documents, which would be entered into a national database.
Richardson said that the Real ID Act would not be effective in combating domestic terrorism. He cited Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and convicted Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, saying that they would have been able to obtain the necessary IDs.
The lack of fixed guidelines for securing the information is a huge concern, Richardson said. He added that databases have been stolen from several state and U.S. government agencies.
Storing the data on bar codes would be the preferred method, Richardson said, as an encryption process would be too difficult. But the use of bar code technology raises serious issues.
“This is, in my opinion, very dangerous,” Richardson warned.
Implementation of the Real ID would cost the state of Oregon an estimated $63 million, Richardson said, making it an “unfunded mandate.” States may be forced to raise car registration and other related fees in order to pay for the implementation, Richardson said.
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“That cost is going to come from somewhere,” he said.
Several states have passed measures rejecting Real ID, including New Hampshire, Maine, Utah, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois and Montana.
Richardson said that he received 2,400 responses to a survey on the issue in one of his recent newsletter updates. Of those respondents, Richardson said, 93 percent said that Oregon should not comply with the federal law.
When the question of Oregon’s compliance was raised during the 2007 legislative session, Richardson said, he was one of four Republicans to vote against implementation of the act.
“It’s not safe, it’s not reliable, and it’s not secure,” Richardson said. “We cannot allow the federal government to control us to such an extent.”
He expressed concern regarding some recent actions by the Bush administration. He cited as an example an executive order signed by President Bush on July 17 stating that any person or organization that takes action against the Iraq War could see all their property seized.
“We walk in perilous times,” Richardson said.
Under the Bush administration, the United States has incurred the largest increase in Medicare expenses since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency, Richardson said. And it has experienced less balance of power in the federal system.
Richardson said that Bush has deviated from the principles of true conservatism by running up large deficits and failing to limit the size and scope of government.
Oregon’s property rights laws also were discussed during the forum.
Measure 37 was passed in 2004 by 61 percent of Oregon voters. It stated that if a governing body takes any action that lowers the value of a citizen’s property, that citizen can apply to either receive compensation for the lost value or seek to have the restrictions waived.
Democrats in the Oregon House and Senate prepared an alternative to the measure. It will be referred to voters Nov. 6 under the title of Measure 49.
Richardson said that he “strongly resisted” attempts to change Measure 37 in the Legislature, and said that the Democrats’ plan doesn’t preserve transferability rights.
“The Democrats who control the Legislature don’t want Measure 37,” Richardson said.
Although he acknowledged that Measure 37 “could have been written better,” he said that Measure 49 would limit citizens’ property rights. No commercial or industrial Measure 37 claims would be allowed if Measure 49 is voted into law, Richardson said. He added that such restrictions could be harmful to the state’s economy.
Richardson pointed out that since Oregon adopted its land-use laws in 1973, no other state has adopted a similar system.
Oregon’s land-use laws have had the unintended consequence of driving up housing costs by limiting the number of lots available for building, Richardson said.
“It’s all supply and demand,” he said.
Growth in Oregon is restricted to areas contained in Urban Growth Boundaries, and 97 percent of the land beyond those limits is zoned for exclusive forest or exclusive farm use. Those restrictions increase the cost of living, Richardson said, and cause many young adults to leave the state because they cannot afford housing.
Richardson represents Oregon House District 4, which covers rural portions of Jackson and Josephine counties.
