by Gary Humble – Tennessee Stands
You can always count on Jack Johnson and William Lamberth to bring a bill forward that sounds like a great headline, but once you read it, you realize that it stands only to enlarge the power of government and continue to degrade the liberties of individuals.
And mark my words, when you send an email to their offices to oppose HB 1316 / SB 1297, which would expand the use of Digital ID systems in Tennessee, their response will be that you are receiving misinformation, organizations on social media are lying, and that the bill does something entirely different.
The abstract of the bill focuses on the fact that the bill restricts the use of digital IDs as a valid form of identification to be utilized for voting. That’s a good thing. And if the bill stopped there, we would probably be asking Tennesseans to voice support for the bill. But as history has shown, when you have a bill coming out of Governor Bill Lee’s office, it doesn’t stop there.
This digital ID law found in TCA § 55-50-306 was first enacted by the General Assembly in 2015 under the Haslam administration and has not been amended since. This year’s bill introduces the use of biometric scan data (including facial recognition) as part of a digital ID system and also allows the state to now contract with a third party in order to manage and operate such a system, including data collection. If you are so inclined, take the opportunity to read the bill for yourself.
We will vehemently oppose any measure whatsoever that seeks to codify the use of a digital ID system along with any aspects of such a system that includes biometric scans, facial recognition, and data collection, no matter the perceived protective measures that are put in place.
If the Governor, Sen Jack Johnson, or Rep William Lamberth were interested in protecting the vote and keeping Tennessee from participating in surveillance state activities, then they would simply run a bill to repeal TCA § 55-50-306 in its entirety, not build upon it. As usual, everything is not quite as it seems in Tennessee.
This bill is dangerous, and it needs to be stopped.
