The Senate Appropriations Committee has been locked in testimony today over the state Department of Revenue’s handling of Missourians’ private information.
The committee is meeting this week to consider the budget plan approved in the House, but talks today have largely focused on questions surrounding Missouri drivers’ licenses.
For several weeks, Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has brought up issues related to privacy concerns and whether the state's new licensing system has been used as a back-door way of implementing the federal REAL ID Act, anti-terrorism legislation that is the product of the 9/11 Commission. The Missouri Legislature passed a law in 2009 to block implementation of the federal law here.
The new licensing policy here requires that certain identifying documents, including marriage licenses and birth certificates, be scanned at local licensing offices and transmitted to a database in Jefferson City. Revenue officials say saving the documents gives the opportunity for spot-checking for fraud and providing evidence in fraud cases.
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During several hours of inquiry, Revenue Department officials have defended the new licensing system, calling it a way of making drivers’ licenses more secure here. But they also admitted that they didn’t change the department’s rules to allow the scanning and retention of identifying documents provided to obtain drivers’ licenses. Changing the rule would have required a public input period.
They repeatedly denied that the system is tied to the REAL ID Act.
"I don’t think anyone’s saying we should do REAL ID," said John Mollenkamp, deputy director of the Department of Revenue.
Department director Brian Long said Revenue’s “primary job” is to make sure licenses are secure.
“Scanning and retaining documents is an important component of that,” he said.
Noting 27 other states have similar procedures, Long said any changes could create establish Missouri as a target for related crimes.
“Crime goes where people and institutions are weak,” he said.
Revenue officials admitted that some of the new security measures do mirror parts of the REAL ID Act, but they said the intent is to make Missouri licenses secure enough to be accepted on a federal level -- for example, when someone boards an airplane or enters a federal courthouse.
“We’ve done things to create a strong, secure license,” Long said.
The Senate has given initial approval to a bill that would block the Revenue Department from holding copies of personal documents in a database. A similar bill is making its way through the House.
Schaefer said Long told senate leaders in a private meeting that the licensing system would still work without the copying of documents. He asked Long during the hearing to stop copying concealed carry certificates, but Long said he wasn’t ready to commit to that agreement.
Schaefer has threatened to block funding for the licensing division if it continues the practice.
“I think we have to hold the DMV accountable for every dollar of public money that they are spending and every requirement they are placing on the public,” he said. “That goes wherever it goes, and if we find out they’re violating state law and they’re using public funds to do it, we will not continue to give them funds to do it.”
He plans to hold hearings in the coming weeks – before the budget is approved – to get public input on the issue.
Several senators sent a letter to state auditor Tom Schweich this week, requesting an audit of the Department of Revenue, related to the licensing concerns.
Schweich responded with a letter notifying senators that his office already "has started to look into the issue and gather information to be used in upcoming audits."
"We will make it a priority during these audits to investigate concerns related to scanning source documents," he wrote.
Elizabeth Crisp covers Missouri politics and state government for the Post-Dispatch. Follow her on Twitter at @elizabethcrisp.
