Arizona Passes Legislation that Bars its Compliance with the REAL ID program

08 Jul 2008

In mid-June Arizona joined roughly 12 other states in barring Arizona’s compliance with the REAL ID program, a federal program calling for a uniform standard for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. Janet Napolitano, governor of Arizona, voiced her concerns that REAL ID would cost at least $4 billion to implement, but the federal government, to date, has only provided for $90 million in funding to help Arizona and other states implement the identification program.

"My support of the REAL ID Act is, and has always been, contingent upon adequate federal funding," Napolitano wrote in a letter detailing her support for Arizona’s bar on compliance. "Absent that, the REAL ID Act becomes just another unfunded federal mandate."