Joint Memorial to Oppose the Federal Real ID Act Unanimously Passes NM House Judiciary Committee

From the Democratic Leadership of the NM House of Representatives:
A surprising unanimous vote Monday by the NM House Judiciary Committee forwards House Joint Memorial 13 to the House floor. Committee Republicans joined Democrats to oppose the implementation of the Federal Real ID Act of 2005.

House Majority Leader, Rep. Ken Martinez, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, opposes the Real ID Act because it infringes on civil liberties, imposes undue hardships on record keeping in the Department of Motor Vehicles, and could cost New Mexico as much as $37 million dollars over five years.

During the committee hearing Rep. Ken Martinez (D-Grants), the memorial sponsor, said, “There are three things as a state that we can do with this national ID mandate from the federal government. We can do nothing. We can implement it. Or we can send it back. This memorial proposes that we send it back to Washington. My only regret is that New Mexico will not be the first state to say no to this mandate because the state of Maine has already passed a joint memorial that is very similar.”

The Real ID Act of 2005 requires that states adopt uniform federal standards and documentation verification procedures for issuing driver’s licenses. These licenses could then be used as the equivalent of a national identification card to enter federal buildings and board airplanes within the United States. Documents that were used by state motor vehicle departments to verify citizenship would be scanned into an electronic data base that would be required to be shared with all other states.

HB 13 calls on the New Mexico legislature to not authorize funding to comply with this federal mandate. The memorial also calls upon the United States Congress to repeal the Real ID Act and urges the New Mexico congressional delegation to support that repeal.

Fro more information contact: Kathleen MacRae 505-681-3920, or Victoria Chávez 646-241-5335.

To follow the progress of all pending legislation, go to the legislative website at https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs. To contact Rep. Martinez call 505-986-4777.

Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House
Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, House Majority Whip

Editor's Note: Maine was the first state to reject the Real ID card.