By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – One of the numerous bills awaiting Governor Jay Nixon's signature would formally reject Missouri's participation in the federal Real I-D Act of 2005.
The bill's sponsor, GOP House Member Jim Guest from rural northwestern Missouri, says the act would not only require everyone to have a federal I-D card, but would also eventually store everyone's personal information in a national database:
"We feel like it's just the first step towards our federal government, or Big Brother, having control over us in our everyday life, and eventually you would have to show this card every time you did a transaction," said Guest.
Supporters of the federal Real I-D Act say it would help safeguard America against acts of terrorism. Democratic House Member Jeff Roorda of Jefferson County is one of them.
"There's a contingent of legislators that, I guess for a lack of a better word, we call them the 'Black Helicopter Squad,' and they're always fearful of any sort of Big Brother perceived, Orwellian plot that they see on the horizon," says Roorda.
Roorda says the federal Real I-D act would help make America safer, specifically, that it would make it harder for a terrorist to hijack an airplane.
A spokesman for Governor Jay Nixon says he will carefully review the bill before making a decision.