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Another bout in Montana's fight against REAL ID has ended, and this time we're claiming a victory.

The first round went to Congress, which passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 despite strong objections from some lawmakers, including all three of Montana's congressional delegates. In fact, the act only managed to squeak through after its author, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., attached it to the military budget as a rider.

The second round of the battle began forming last year, when Montana's Legislature joined 16 other states in rejecting the REAL ID Act. We've been locked into a slow-motion showdown ever since.

The push for REAL ID arose out of a 9/11 Commission report that outlined certain steps to enhance national security. For instance, it requires every state to collect information about individual residents and provide that information to a national database. It also requires that states meet uniform guidelines for driver's licenses.

The people who supported the REAL ID Act apparently believe the changes it mandates are badly needed. But apparently, they aren't needed so badly that they can't be put off a few more years.

The act was supposed to go into effect this May, but nearly every state in the nation has filed for an extension on REAL ID compliance, meaning they won't have to meet requirements until 2014. Montana is one of only four states that didn't file for an extension, because state officials felt that doing so would imply that we eventually intend to comply with the act - which we don't.

Since we didn't file for an extension, however, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned Montana residents that we wouldn't be able to use our driver's licenses for federal identification purposes - meaning Montana residents would have to stand in longer lines and submit to additional security hassles when trying to enter federal buildings, or when returning to the United States from another country.

Fortunately, Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath sent a letter to the feds pointing out the fact that Montana's identification standards go above and beyond those currently required by REAL ID. In response, the Department of Homeland Security agreed to let Montana off the hook - until Dec. 31, 2009, when a new set of REAL ID standards is expected to be released.

So the scene is already set for Round 3. Montana's top lawmakers, including Rep. Denny Rehberg, Sens. Max Baucus and Jon Tester, and Gov. Brian Schweitzer, have pledged their firm opposition to REAL ID. They cite a number of different reasons to repeal the act, including:

n The national database of personal information poses a massive security risk to millions of Americans.

n The act effectively transfers a matter traditionally handled under state authority to the federal government.

n Many of the required changes are costly and inefficient for states, like Montana, that already have high security standards.

You get the idea.

Unfortunately, efforts to repeal the act - or even take a closer look at its most troublesome components - haven't made much headway.

It's clear we still have a long fight ahead of us.

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