A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to cut off Mainers’ ability to get federally compliant identification cards that critics say compromise privacy.

A bill submitted by Rep. Laurel Libby would end Maine’s Real ID program by repealing the underlying statute authorizing the state to issue the special identification cards, which were introduced to increase security on airlines and at federal buildings after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The waiting room at the Scarborough branch of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in 2022. Mainers must visit a branch in person to be issued a Real ID-compliant license or State ID. Starting May 7, people will need more than a state license or ID for federal purposes, such as boarding a commercial aircraft. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald, file

“It’s expensive. It puts Mainers’ privacy at risk. It doesn’t protect us from terrorism. It can fool us into thinking we’re more protected than we are,” Libby said.

Standards for a Real ID are consistent across the 50 states and involve a higher level of verification than standard driver’s licenses or IDs. To receive a Real ID, an individual must bring proof of identification and citizenship/lawful status, such as a certified birth certificate, two forms proving residency and a social security number. Proof of any legal name changes must also be provided, if applicable.

Real IDs, which have digital photos, can be used with facial recognition software. They also require the digital archiving of identity documents such as birth certificates or Social Security numbers.

Maine has long resisted the shift to Real ID because of concerns about personal privacy, increased governmental surveillance and a proposed national database with sensitive information. Maine was one of the last states to comply with the federal mandate in 2018.

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But Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who pushed back on Real ID as a former state lawmaker and former leader of the ACLU of Maine, said this week that civil liberty advocates helped improve the law by convincing Congress to scrap plans for a national database and allow states to maintain those records while also allowing states to issue their own state IDs cards to residents who want them.

Maine’s law does not force anyone to get a Real ID. Residents can still receive noncompliant state identification cards if they want them, but they would need to bring extra forms of federal identification, such as a passport, when taking domestic commercial flights or entering a federal building. Otherwise, they won’t be permitted to pass through security.

Bellows said the program is still not perfect, but her office has been encouraging Mainers to get real ID compliant identification so they don’t encounter any issues when traveling domestically on commercial airlines or entering federal buildings. The federal government is going to begin enforcing the requirement to present Real ID or passports starting May 7.

“The reality is the federal government is going require a Real ID or other federal identification in order for people to fly domestically,” Bellows said. “For that reason, I think it would be foolish to prohibit the Department of Motor Vehicles from issuing something the federal government is going to require Mainers to have to fly domestically.”

If the state does not provide a Real ID option, residents would have to spend more to get a passport. Real ID license equates to about $9 per year, or $10 for older adults; a Real ID nondriver card is $5 a year; and a passport costs $16.50 per year for the first 10 years and $13 annually after that.

After years of delays, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said last summer they will begin enforcing federal requirements for people over the age of 18 to present Real ID compliant identification at airport security stations and before entering federal buildings on May 7.

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“Even with implementation looming, the opt-in rate is still pretty low,” Libby said.

Maine has one of the lowest participation rates nationwide.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, 56% of Americans as of January 2024 had a Real ID.

As of Jan. 1 this year, just under 25%, or 293,935, of state’s nearly 1.2 million state-issued IDs, including driver’s licenses, were Real ID complaint, according to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. In December, the state issued a monthly high of 11,970 Real IDs — up from the previous high of under 8,000.

The bill presented in Maine is similar to proposals in at least seven other states to end their Real ID programs, according to Libby, who said she hopes more states join. The multi-state approach was informed by conversations she had with the ACLU of Maine last session, she said. And it’s an approach that she hopes will get the attention of President-elect Donald Trump and the new Congress.

“I think we can garner more interest at the national level by having common legislation indicating interest in multiple states,” Libby said.

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While the Department of Homeland Security says there are no plans to create a national database containing people’s vital information, like birth certificates, civil liberty advocates echo the concerns about Real ID making it easier for the government to track citizens.

Michael Kebede, policy counsel for the ACLU of Maine, says federal officials will have access to a person’s sensitive personal information in every state, much the same way Google accesses websites and databases online.

“Google gives you the ability to search thousands – millions – of databases just with one keystroke and that’s essentially how Real ID is going to work,” said Kebede, who is concerned about hacks and identity theft, as well expanding the surveillance state.

The bill, LD 160, has four Democratic co-sponsors: Sen. Nicole Grohoski of Ellsworth, and Reps. Adam Lee of Auburn, Grayson Lookner of Portland, Nina Milliken of Blue Hill and David Sinclair of Bath.

Grohoski said she wasn’t available for an interview on Monday and referred all questions to Libby, while Milliken said she would prefer not to comment. Lee, Lookner and Sinclair did not respond to messages.

Kebede said he supports Libby’s approach, because it will prevent more people from opting into a program that in his opinion has fatal flaws.

“The more participation the Real ID system has, the stronger and more legitimate it becomes,” Kebede said. “And the stronger and more legitimate it becomes, the more real our concerns become about a centralized database, about ease of tracking, (and) about identity theft.”

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