Lee Davidson reports:
A rebellious Utah Legislature four years ago prohibited state officials from complying with the federal REAL ID Act — worrying, as the sponsor of the ban said, that it could lead to a national ID card and “all sorts of tyranny.”
But a new study says despite that ban, Utah has taken “every step the Department of Homeland Security wants toward building the national ID” — because of separate laws enacted as part of immigration reform designed to ensure that only U.S. residents may obtain a full Utah driver license.
That is according to the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank that promotes libertarian ideals of limited government and free markets.
It released a study Monday asserting that the REAL ID Act is essentially dead because most states refuse to comply with it as an unfunded mandate — and federal officials respond by constantly extending deadlines. Cato calls for the federal government to stop spending money to implement it.
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