Rep. Jim Guest, R-King City, goes before a Senate committee this evening to push Missouri away from federal regulations for driver’s licenses.

Mr. Guest for more than a year has led a nationwide coalition of legislators against the Real ID Act of 2005, a congressional response to security breaches from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Northwest Missouri Republican, however, contends the feds are going too far, citing privacy and identity theft concerns.

States have until December 2009 to comply with one of the 18 Real ID benchmarks – to validate that residents are legally present in the United States before issuing them a license, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Full compliance comes in December 2014 for residents 50 and younger. Residents 50 and older have until 2017. Driver’s licenses in states that don’t comply with the benchmarks will not be accepted as valid forms of identification when boarding airplanes or entering certain federal buildings.

Mr. Guest at 6 p.m. will try to convince a Senate committee to prohibit the Missouri Department of Revenue of complying with Real ID. His HB 1716 would stop the state from “amending any procedures for applying for a driver's license or identification card in order to comply with the standards of the federal Real ID Act of 2005,” under the bill’s summary available at www.house.mo.gov. The House of Representatives passed the bill, 138-3, earlier this month. It needs success in the Senate committee and an up vote in the Senate before Gov. Matt Blunt can sign it into law.

Below is information outlining the 18 federal ID benchmarks, which a homeland security spokeswoman, Amy Kudwa in Washington, provided to the News-Press this afternoon:

1 § 37.11(a) Subject each applicant to a mandatory facial image capture and retain such image even if a driver license (DL) or identification card (ID) is not issued

2 § 37.11(b) Have each applicant sign a declaration under penalty of perjury that the information presented is true and correct, and retain this declaration pursuant to § 37.31.

3 § 37.11(c) (1) Require an individual to present at least one of the source documents listed in subsections (i) through (x) when establishing identity

4 § 37.11(d)-(g) Require documentation of:

• Date of birth

• Social Security Number

• Address of principal residence

• Evidence of lawful status

5 § 37.11(h) Have a documented exceptions process that meets the requirements established in 37.11(h)(1)-(3) (if States choose to have such a process)

6 § 37.13(a) Make reasonable efforts to ensure that the applicant does not have more than one DL or ID already issued by that State under a different identity

7 § 37.13(b)(1) Verify lawful status through SAVE or another method approved by DHS

8 § 37.13(b)(2) Verify Social Security account numbers with the Social Security Administration or another method approved by DHS

9 § 37.15(b) Issue DL and IDs that contain Level 1, 2 and 3 integrated security features

10 § 37.17(a)-(l) Surface (front and back) of cards include the following printed information in Latin alpha-numeric characters:

• Full legal name

• Date of birth

• Gender

• Unique DL/ID number

• Full facial digital photograph

• Address of principal residence [with exceptions]

• Signature [with exceptions]

• Date of transaction

• Expiration date

• State or territory of issuance

11 § 37.17 (n) Commit to mark materially compliant DL and IDs with a DHS-approved security marking

12 § 37.21 Issue temporary or limited-term licenses to all individuals with temporary lawful status and tie license validity to the end of lawful status

13 § 37.41 Have a documented security plan for DMV operations in accordance with the requirements set forth in § 37.41

14 § 37.41(b)(2) Have protections in place to ensure the security of personally identifiable information

15 § 37.41(b)(5) (i)-(ii) Require all employees handling source documents or issuing DLs or IDs to attend and complete the AAMVA approved (or equivalent) fraudulent document recognition training and security awareness training

16 § 37.45 Conduct name-based and fingerprint-based criminal history and employment eligibility checks on all employees in covered positions or an alternative procedure approved by DHS

17 § 37.51 (b)(1) Commit to be in material compliance with Subparts A through D no later than January 1, 2010 or within 90 days of submission of this document, whichever date is earlier

18 § 37.71 (b)(1) Clearly state on the face of non-compliant DLs or IDs that the card is not acceptable for official purposes, except for licenses renewed or reissued under § 37.27