January 24, 2007
Challenging the Real ID Act
Cross-Posted at Montana Statehouse.com
This morning I will be having a hearing on my House Bill 287, which says that Montana will refuse to implement the federal Real ID Act. That is the new law that requires us to participate in a national ID scheme.
This law is going cause us a huge amount of red tape, it's going to cost us millions, and it is a real threat to our privacy. And security experts say that it won't do a bit to protect us from terrorism.
The Real ID act was tacked on to a military appropriations bill last year at the last minute, and has all the signs of being another boondoggle, but with consequences. They want to make us use an approved driver's license to board an airliner, open a bank account, or take care of business down at the federal building.
Montanans have long cast a squinty eye at efforts by Washington, or Helena for that matter, to collect too much data about citizens. We deserve to have a real debate about whether we want to have a national ID card, and if we really need one.
My challenge to my fellow legislators is for us to stand up for our privacy and our liberty, and tell Congress we won’t play along with this. My bill is one of many in a number of states saying the same thing. Although there is legislation in the new Congress to do something about it, I believe that we need to hold up both hands and say "whoa!". Congress needs to go back to the drawing board.
Real ID? We don't want it, we don't need it, and we can't afford it. Let's stick with the system we have.
Here is the text of the current Real ID statute.
Here is my bill.
Here is a study of Real ID by the non-partisan National Association of State Legislators.
Listen to the hearing in House Judiciary this morning at 8:00.
Posted by admin at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2006
Onward Faithful Soldiers, Marching as to War
We've been waiting for weeks now for something to happen in Montana politics, and now something most definitely has. For the second time in two years, the House conservatives have pulled a harsh parliamentary maneuver that has created toxic feelings all across the state.
Speaker-elect Scott Sales of Belgrade is the new decider of House committees, which is where most of the legislative work gets done. Preparing to crank up January's four-month session, Scott decided the other day that ten democrats of forty nine would be shut out of the morning committees, which are the big five day a week committees, where taxes and spending and matters of crime and punishment, of life and death get decided on. Oh, and the booze and gambling and election laws, too.
A tenth of the state has been denied equal representation in the Legislature. Our most seasoned citizens cannot remember such a thing. Ever.
Sales of course is among the ringleaders of the hard line Montana reactionary right. Two years ago he was a talker in the campaign to connive the House Democrats out of their choice of Speaker, a maneuver that poisoned the mood of the assembly for many days.
Walking out of the caucus back in early December where he was elected by a few votes, Scott looked the reporters right in the eye and famously said, literally, that there would be a war. Right on his heels came his chief lieutenant Mike Lange of Billings, who said, literally, that they would offer no quarter.
Real warrior like, these two. And both quite firm in their faith, and inclined to just tell you how it's going to be. Which is their way or the highway.
To put the final spin on the dope-slapping of the same Montana electorate that threw out one of their friends just six weeks ago, Sales and crew have appointed the most right-wing legislator in America to run Montana's House Education Committee. Seriously, Rick Jore of Ronan believes in the theocratic platform of his fellow true believers. He's the Constitution party's only state legislator anywhere.
You have to admit that the name Constitution Party demonstrates that these guys do have some degree of humor.
Jore thinks that our community schools should be shut down. No kidding.
To complete the joke, Sales named Roger Koopman to be vice chair of that same education committee. This is the committee that will consider our full-day kindergarten proposal, which would give a serious economic boost to young families, to say nothing of a head start for thousands of kids.
For those of us who serve in the Montana House, this is a cold bucket of sobriety after the giddiness and exhaustion of the campaign.
Campaign's over, friends. Now it's time to do the people's business, and in this business, these guys want to play rough.
We are well into the seven fat years now, and should be fixing up and putting away for the coming lean years. We might do a lot now to invest in our schools, our health care, our energy systems. We could be taking care of veterans, our elders, and our environment. We could be insulating our houses. We might talk about how it should pay to work.
But instead, our conservative neighbors who run the Montana House are resolved to a program that starts with scorched earth.
Stay tuned. This show runs through April. Just wait til you hear the one about where the tax cut went.
Posted by Brady Wiseman at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)