Gwadosky calls for license changes Secretary of state backs proposal for more standardized identification cards

AUGUSTA – Maine Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky is supporting a national group’s proposal to improve and standardize state driver’s licenses and identification cards as part of an effort to improve homeland security.

But not everyone likes the creation of what arguably will be a national ID card.

“If we are checking the identification from another state, we want to be assured that that person has been issued it appropriately,” Gwadosky said. “Right now we have no such assurances.”

In fact, some states do not require a photo on a license or ID card. Several states do not require a person to be a resident of the state to obtain either type of identification.

And safeguards against forged IDs and licenses vary widely. Linda Lewis, president of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, said the group wants uniform standards so a police officer or anyone else requesting a license or state-issued ID card can be certain the person is who they say they are.

“The federal government has seen fit to strengthen the issuance of HAZMAT [hazardous materials] endorsements for a commercial driver’s license,” she said. “We need help from the federal government to strengthen the entire driver’s license application process to help secure a safer America.”

The group is seeking an across-the-board upgrade in the quality of both the license and the process of obtaining a license. It wants at least $70 million from Congress to help design a new license as well as a uniform process every state would be asked to adopt.

Betty Serian, Pennsylvania’s deputy transportation secretary chaired the AAMVA task force.

“The U.S. has more than 200 different, valid forms of identification issued by states in circulation now,” she said. “So how can a bank teller in Maine be expected to know what a California state driver’s license really looks like?”

States would have to pay for some of the costs, but Gwadosky does not believe Maine would need to do much to change its design or procedures.

“We already have the digital license with a photo and several anti-tampering devices,” he said. “Unless Congress wants a license that incorporates a fingerprint or some other new technology, I think our license design will work well.”

But Lt. Col. Jeff Harmon, deputy chief of the Maine State Police, said for the new license or ID card to be useful to law enforcement, it would need at least one positive method of proof like a digital fingerprint or facial recognition capacity. He said he discussed some of his concerns with AAMVA officials last week.

“For this to interact with the criminal records systems, there needs to be more than just a photo and anti-fraud measures,” he said. “And it will take a lot of time and money to implement such a system across the country.”

Harmon said he supports the concept of a uniform license or ID, but there are many operational and substantive issues that need to be resolved to move the proposal from the idea stage to a plan.

“To do this means a lot of people doing things differently than they have done them in the past,” he said,” and that is also difficult.”

Gwadosky said he already has taken some administrative actions in line with the goals established by AAMVA.

For example, a person requesting a Maine ID card used to get it as soon as the plastic laminate cooled on the photo.

“They now have to come back another day and have proof, like a birth certificate, that they are indeed who they say they are,” he said.

Since most people use their driver’s licenses for identification in Maine, the change would affect only a few thousand people in Maine who use ID cards.

But when the proposal goes beyond just standardizing policies to the interconnection of all the state databases and the need for fingerprint or facial recognition technology, that has privacy advocates like Betsey Mahoney of the Maine Civil Liberties Union concerned.

“This really has the potential to infringe on an individual’s privacy rights,” she said. “What this amounts to is creating a national identity card and that raises a whole lot of concerns.”

Mahoney said she hopes Maine is very cautious about joining in any national effort that “further” erodes the privacy of individuals. She said the more information contained on the license or ID, the more concern she would have about who would have access to that data and how it might be used.

Gwadosky said he shares many of the privacy concerns but does not think they are warranted in this case. He said there would not be a single “national license” but licenses issued by the individual states.

“They want all the stakeholders to meet on this and work out an agreement on how to implement this,” he said. “But this is not something that will be quickly worked out. There are too many issues and jurisdictions involved.”

AAMVA officials will hold a national conference next month to discuss how to proceed in developing a specific proposal for Congress as well as model legislation for states to consider.