REAL ID Capitulation bills: SB 37 and HB 151

BACKGROUND

• In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed the Real ID Act, which establishes a national identification card system.  To work, it needs cooperation from all the states.
• The federal government does not have the authority to force states to comply with the Real ID Act, or otherwise change their driver's licenses, so Missouri has the option to voluntarily comply or keep our existing system.
• The Missouri legislature, in 2009, felt that the Real ID Act was an attempt to expand federal power and control over the states' affairs and, fearing unelected bureaucrats would comply without consulting the legislature, passed a law that forbids compliance.  A couple of dozen other states followed suit.  At this time 25 states are in full compliance with REAL ID.
• Since 2009, the federal government has issued a series of 2 year ultimatums about compliance, but before the deadlines have been reached, they have extended the ultimatums.
• In 2013 the legislature discovered that the Missouri Department of Revenue was breaking the law and seeking mold our driver's license system into compliance with Real ID.
• In 2013 the legislature also discovered that the Missouri Department of Revenue illegally released the personal information of 163,000 conceal carry permit holders to federal agents.
  

If Missouri chooses not to comply with the Real ID Act by January 22, 2018, a Missouri driver's license alone will no longer be adequate for access to federal property, like military bases, and for air travel.  You will need the following for access:

Military Bases: 

• A Missouri driver's license and one other document, such as a birth certificate, Social Security Card, or passport card, among several other things.
• Fort Leonard Wood's base access informatmion.
  

Airplanes:

• A passport or passport card that costs $55 and can be obtained in as little as 24 hours with an extra fee. (A variety of other documents also work, but most are probably not as easy to obtain as a passport card.)
• How to get a passport card
  

Proponents of compliance say:

• People are being inconvenienced when they are unaware of the need to bring an additional form of identification, along with their driver's license.
• Sometimes truck drivers are turned away from military bases when they are unaware of the need for proper documentation. (Military bases have a system of passes they issue to drivers who know in advance they must deliver on the base.)
• Although you can get a passport or passport card to fly, the card costs $55 and can take weeks to get if you don't pay extra for 24 hour expediting.
  

Opponents of compliance say:

• REAL ID is part of a national database being developed to track American citizens.
• REAL ID compliance is giving in to bullying tactics by the federal government.
• Issuance of driver's licenses has always been a state function, and complying with REAL ID results in an expansion of federal power, which is already out of hand.
• REAL ID card requirements will continue to grow, even to the point of requiring things like retina scans, facial recognition, and RFID chips embedded in the cards. See: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/biometric-security-initiatives
  

 

PDMP: Government Surveillance of prescription drug purchases): HB 90, SB 314, SB 74

• PDMP bills would create another government database of your personal information.
• Their purpose is to stop “doctor shopping” for prescriptions, but only 2.3% of the prescription drug abuse results from doctor shopping.
• PDMPs don’t work. Deaths have continued to rise even though all states but Missouri have PDMPs and even without a PDMP, Missouri has only an average rate of abuse.
• The REAL problem is that doctors are not being careful how they prescribe drugs.
• Obamacare and other regulatory burdens take valuable time from patients - time that could be used for doctors to get to know them better and recognize problems, like a dependancy, before it gets out of hand.
• The high cost of insurance also adds to the problem, since doctors need to see more patients to maintain profitability.

 

Capitol Searches:

• Democrat Governor Bob Holden implemented warrant-less searches for the 2002 legislative session, but the Republican dominated General Assembly opposed and de-funded them.
• The restoring of this failed policy has created a great deal of inconvenience AND fostered authoritarianism in Missouri, the very thing that plagued the people of Germany, Russia and China in the 20th century.