Sam’s Perspective: Real ID

I’m Sam Jones. The clock is ticking. The same clock that looked ahead to a possible budget shortage in Oklahoma. Well,… as expected, we slammed into that wall, we have a shortage of over one billion dollars and so far, no real action on the part of state lawmakers. Now the clock is ticking on another issue,… Oklahoma’s compliance with the Federal Real ID act. A federal law passed in 2005 sets standards for post 9/11 identification. This is February, 2016 and Oklahoma is still out of compliance.

State lawmakers aren’t known for getting things done, unless of course, its some sort of agenda that will help them get re-elected, and the issue here is not something that would benefit state residents, rather, lawmakers said it was privacy. But now they are faced with a real deadline and they are running out of wiggle room. So along comes Republican Senator David Holt who is behind a bill that would solve the problem,… sort of. Under his bill, which stands a good chance of passage, you can get a driver’s license that complies with the Federal law and if you have privacy worries, you can keep what you have. Holt says “what we are pursuing is a solution to the Real ID issue so that grandma can fly to see her grandkids. If we fail to provide that option for our Oklahoma citizens, I think we will be guilty of gross incompetence.” Such bluster.

In other words, here’s to longer lines at the airport and federal buildings for those who claim privacy concerns while the rest of us can just waltz right through. Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Where’s Judge Judy when you really need her.