Stop RealID!

By Jo Whistler  April 10, 2009

After Governor Kaine signed two anti-REAL ID bills, HB 1587 and SB 1431, he returned SB 1046, the REAL ID compliance bill to the Virginia General Assembly with his recommendations. SB 1046 had been neutered, and the matter of the Radio Frequency Identification chips in our new Virginia drivers licenses had been removed. Governor Kaine tried to pull a fast one, and he had the Virginia Senate supporting his recommendations - though by a slim margin.

YEAS--Colgan, Deeds, Edwards, Herring, Houck, Howell, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Northam, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Reynolds, Saslaw, Ticer, Watkins, Whipple--21.

NAYS--Barker, Blevins, Cuccinelli, Hanger, Hurt, Martin, McDougle, Newman, Norment, Obenshain, Quayle, Ruff, Smith, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler--19.

RULE 36--0.

NOT VOTING--0.

However, on VETO Day, April 8, the Virginia House of Delegates stomped all over the governor's plan to impose REAL ID on Virginians. The House had its own Tea Party going on, and voted against the governor's recommendations for SB 1046 67 to 32.

YEAS--Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, BaCote, Barlow, Brink, Caputo, Dance, Ebbin, Eisenberg, Hall, Herring, Howell, A.T., Marsden, McClellan, McQuinn, Melvin, Miller, P.J., Morrissey, Plum, Poisson, Scott, J.M., Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Toscano, Tyler, Valentine, Vanderhye, Ward, Ware, O., Watts--32.

NAYS--Abbitt, Albo, Athey, Bell, Bouchard, Bowling, Bulova, Byron, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Englin, Fralin, Frederick, Gilbert, Griffith, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Hugo, Hull, Iaquinto, Ingram, Janis, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Kilgore, Knight, Landes, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Lohr, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, Mathieson, May, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Morgan, Nichols, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Pogge, Poindexter, Pollard, Purkey, Putney, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Shannon, Sherwood, Tata, Ware, R.L., Wright, Mr. Speaker--67.

ABSTENTIONS--0.

NOT VOTING--Gear--1.

Thank these folks in elected office who stood up for the people of Virginia against  REAL ID!

Feb. 10, 2009

Delegate Bob Marshall's anti-REAL ID legislation, H.B. 1587, passed the House of Delegates, 88-10.

YEAS--Abbitt, Albo, Alexander, Amundson, Armstrong, Athey, BaCote, Barlow, Bell, Bouchard, Bowling, Bulova, Byron, Caputo, Carrico, Cline, Cole, Cosgrove, Cox, Crockett-Stark, Dance, Ebbin, Englin, Fralin, Frederick, Gear, Gilbert, Griffith, Hall, Hamilton, Hargrove, Hogan, Howell, A.T., Hugo, Hull, Iaquinto, Ingram, Joannou, Johnson, Jones, Kilgore, Knight, Landes, Lewis, Lingamfelter, Loupassi, Marshall, D.W., Marshall, R.G., Massie, Mathieson, McClellan, McQuinn, Melvin, Merricks, Miller, J.H., Miller, P.J., Morgan, Morrissey, Nichols, Nixon, Nutter, O'Bannon, Oder, Orrock, Peace, Phillips, Pogge, Poindexter, Pollard, Purkey, Putney, Rust, Saxman, Scott, E.T., Shannon, Sherwood, Shuler, Sickles, Spruill, Tata, Tyler, Valentine, Vanderhye, Ware, O., Ware, R.L., Watts, Wright, Mr. Speaker--88.

NAYS--Brink, Eisenberg, Herring, Janis, Marsden, May, Plum, Scott, J.M., Toscano, Ward--10.

ABSTENTIONS--0.

NOT VOTING--Lohr, Poisson--2.

Source: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+vot+HV2637+HB1587 

How did your delegate vote on HB 1587?

YEAS--Barker, Blevins, Colgan, Cuccinelli, Deeds, Edwards, Hanger, Herring, Houck, Howell, Hurt, Locke, Lucas, Marsh, Martin, McDougle, McEachin, Miller, J.C., Miller, Y.B., Newman, Norment, Northam, Obenshain, Petersen, Puckett, Puller, Quayle, Reynolds, Ruff, Saslaw, Smith, Stolle, Stosch, Stuart, Ticer, Vogel, Wagner, Wampler, Watkins, Whipple--40.

NAYS--0.

RULE 36--0.

NOT VOTING--0.

From Article 2. Franchise and Officers of the Constitution of Virginia as taken from the General Assembly site:

Section 7. Oath or affirmation.
All officers elected or appointed under or pursuant to this Constitution shall, before they enter on the performance of their public duties, severally take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties incumbent upon me as ...................., according to the best of my ability (so help me God)."

Beautiful weather and nearly 150 concerned Virginians showed at 1 P.M. near the Capitol Bell Tower in Richmond Wednesday, January 21, 2009, for the STOP DANGEROUS ID rally organized by Donna Holt, President of Virginia Liberty Defense. The attorney who successfully challenged the constitutionality of the Hampton Roads Transportion Authority last year, Patrick McSweeney, served as Master of Ceremones.

Read it here. Courtesy of David Alan Carmichael

From the Virginian-Pilot Jan. 2, 2009.

Thanks to Dena Potter of the Associated Press for her coverage of the battle against REAL ID in Virginia.

Read the story.
 

In-person fee aims to shift transactions to phone or Internet
Sunday, Jun 29, 2008 - 12:09 AM

Source: http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.PrintView.-content-articles-RTD-2008-06-29-0118.html

 June 20, 2008 - The Department announced Fiscal Year 2008 REAL ID Demonstration Grant awards totaling nearly $80 million to assist states in improving the security of state-issued driver’s licenses and identification documents. Grants will fund state-specific projects like improving the physical security of licenses, upgrading facility security and modernizing document imaging and storage.

Source: Department of Homeland Security

 

April 25, 2008.

From Jo Whistler of This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Seven citizens traveled from as far away as Alberta and the Virginia Beach oceanfront to distribute the booklets REAL ID: Real Tyranny along with an information packet and a letter from one of those citizens and his wife to their state legislators in Richmond on Wednesday, April 23, 2008, the morning of the special session of the General Assembly that had been called by Governor Kaine.

Most legislators were moving toward the Capitol building for their Democratic and Republican caucuses later that morning, but a few of them - Delegates Adam Ebbin (49th District) , Tom Gear (91st) , Dwight Jones (70th) ,  Bob Mathieson (21st) ,

Brenda Pogge (96th) , Albert Pollard (99th) , Terrie Suit (81st) and Senator Emmett Hanger (24th)   - were available and listened to citizens' concerns about REAL ID. Legislative aide Nathan Vassar interrupted his lunch to hear out one of the activists.

During this lobbying process, legislators and their aides were shown the letter from Virginia's Commissioner of the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to Darrell Williams of the REAL ID office of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Commissioner of Virginia's DMV did what Governor Kaine and the Virginia General Assembly did not do:  he requested and received an extension of the implementation of REAL ID for the state of Virginia which expires December 31, 2009. In his letter, the Commissioner specified  that his request should not be interpreted  as the Commonwealth's acceptance of the rule nor the Commonwealth's intent to comply with REAL ID.