LICENSE IMPROVEMENTS

Maine, for a variety of reasons including pressure and threats from the federal government, must upgrade its drivers licensing system. Accepting a small amount of federal money to do this work does not mean the state is neglecting the privacy of its residents or participating in a national surveillance program.

There are two problems. First, because Maine didn’t have a residency requirement, it has issued thousands of licenses to people who have listed post office boxes, stores and even the Bureau of Motor Vehicles as their address. This will stop as the result of a law passed by the Legislature this spring.

Maine has also issued licenses to people who are in the United States illegally. Fixing this is more problematic because immigration is largely a federal issue and addressing it has become intertwined with the controversial Real ID law, which sets national standards for driver’s licenses.

Earlier this year, the Department of Homeland Security threatened to not allow Maine licenses to serve as identification for federal purposes, such as boarding airplanes and entering government buildings, if Maine did not seek an extension to comply with the Real ID act. Last year, the Legislature passed a law forbidding Maine from complying with Real ID.

Other states had requested extensions while noting that their legislatures had forbidden compliance with the Real ID law. Maine took a different track and asked for a waiver based on steps the state had taken to improve its driver’s licenses. DHS said this was insufficient, mostly because the state did not require applicants to prove they were in the country legally. The department also criticized Maine’s lack of residency requirement.

The department and the governor worked out a last-minute compromise under which the state agreed to take several steps to make its licenses more secure. They include requiring license applicants to show they are in the country legally, looking for technology to ensure people aren’t issued more than one license and developing a plan to use a federal database to verify the immigration documents of applicants. The bill was approved by the Legislature in its final days this spring.

A petition drive is under way to repeal this law.

Before the law was passed, the governor’s office pledged to seek funding for the changes. The grant that was announced last week is part of that work. The $1 million the state will receive will be used for new technology and personnel to meet the new requirements.

There are still valid concerns about the scope and requirement of the Real ID act. These don’t, however, preclude the state’s need to take steps to ensure that Maine licenses are issued only to people who live in Maine and are in America legally.