June 20, 2008 9:51AM

REAL ID Grant Process Collapses, Money Goes to No‐​Bid Contract

By Jim Harper

Mickey McCarter at Homeland Security Today has the scoop on REAL ID grants that the Department of Homeland Security is doling out today.

Yes, REAL ID grants. Ten states have passed legislation to bar themselves from participating. (Arizona was the most recent.) And many more have registered their objections to the national ID law. But the Department of Homeland Security is still trying to revive it — this time, by spreading a little money around.

What's "a little money"? The estimated $85 million in grants is about 0.5% of the $17 billion that it would cost to implement REAL ID, so it's just a little. But that's $85 million that taxpayers won't be getting back.

It's interesting to see where the money is going, of course.

The breakdown of awards, obtained by HSToday.us, signifies that AAMVA effectively gains a no-bid contract under the awards, as DHS designates it the sole national centralized database of driver's license information under REAL ID through a grant award to the state of Missouri. . . . . A competitive grant process could have resulted in multiple hub awards instead of a sole-source contract to AAMVA, sources argue, decentralizing REAL ID information somewhat and encouraging the rise of the most effective database solution between competing vendors.

With enthusiasm for the program distinctly lacking, DHS abandoned its plan to award grants competitively and just divvied up the money state by state.

[A]lthough many states did submit proposals in response to the REAL ID guidance, according to a source knowledgeable of the evaluation process who requested anonymity, many of the state proposals for REAL ID grants were very poor. Evaluators who examined the proposals received by March 7 were surprised by the number that did not even request the funds for the specific program, instead asking for the money to spend on emergency response equipment and other needs.

No-bid contracts and funds for a program the states don't want? Congress should not allow DHS to throw this good money after bad.