Worker snooping on customer data common
Worker snooping on customer data common
By RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer Sat Feb 23, 7:40 AM ET
MADISON, Wis. - A landlord snooped on tenants to find out information about their finances. A woman repeatedly accessed her ex-boyfriend's account after a difficult breakup. Another obtained her child's father's address so she could serve him court papers.
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All worked for Wisconsin's largest utility, where employees routinely accessed confidential information about acquaintances, local celebrities and others from its massive customer database.
Documents obtained by The Associated Press in an employment case involving Milwaukee-based WE Energies shine a light on a common practice in the utilities, telecommunications and accounting industries, privacy experts say.
Vast computer databases give curious employees the ability to look up sensitive information on people with the click of a mouse. The WE Energies database includes credit and banking information, payment histories, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, and energy usage. In some cases, it even includes income and medical information.
Experts say some companies do little to stop such abuses even though they could lead to identity theft, stalking and other privacy invasions. And companies that uncover violations can keep them quiet because in many cases it is not illegal to snoop, only to use the data for crimes.
"The vast majority of companies are doing very little to stop this widespread practice of snooping," said Larry Ponemon, a privacy expert who founded The Ponemon Institute, a Traverse City, Mich.-based think tank.
Jim Owen, spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute, a lobbying association that represents utilities, disputed suggestions the problem was common in the industry.
"I am not aware of any other situation that has arisen in the utility sector," he said.
Companies generally avoid talking about snooping or any measures they've taken to prevent it.
Scott Reigstad, a spokesman for Madison, Wis.-based Alliant Energy, which has one million electric and 420,000 natural gas customers in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, said his company has safeguards in place to stop misuse but does not discuss them publicly.
"We haven't had any issues that we're aware of," he said.
Jay Foley, executive director of the Identity Theft Resources Center, said state regulators and lawmakers must step in if companies are not guarding their customer information responsibly.
"Something needs to be done at the state level to make sure this is illegal," he said.
He said more companies have to start using software that can track each customer account that employees access.
WE Energies says it has taken numerous steps to stop the problem but even so detecting misuse can be difficult. That's because it is hard to discern the legitimate access of customer information from employees looking for curiosity.
"People were looking at an incredible number of accounts," Joan Shafer, WE Energies' vice president of customer service, said during a sworn deposition last year. "Politicians, community leaders, board members, officers, family, friends. All over the place."
Her testimony came in a legal case involving an employee who was fired in 2006 for repeatedly accessing information about her ex-boyfriend and another friend. An arbitrator in November upheld the woman's firing. The AP reviewed testimony and documents made public as part of the case.
The misuse came to light in 2004 when an employee helped leak information to the media during a heated race for Milwaukee mayor that a candidate, acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, was often behind in paying his heating bills. Pratt lost to the current mayor, Tom Barrett.
Pratt said he's convinced the disclosure cost him votes and unfairly damaged his reputation. Pratt said he recently met with top company executives and was satisfied it has stopped the problem as much as possible. He said he has dropped earlier plans to explore a lawsuit.
"They caught this and they are making corrections to it, which they should. But it never should have happened in the first place. Not just to me, but to anyone. They gave their employees too much latitude to access files."
After the incident involving Pratt, the company fired the employee who leaked the information and vowed to crack down after finding others engaged in similar practices. But problems continued.
In all, the utility fired or disciplined at least 17 employees for breaking the policy between 2005 and 2007, according to testimony and company records. Another employee gained access to Pratt's account for no business purpose and was suspended in 2005 but kept her job.
Others looked up information on their bosses at WE Energies and local conservative radio host Mark Belling, who said he had never been told of the breach.
Ponemon said employees with access to vast amounts of customer information often see nothing wrong with looking up an individual out of curiosity, or in some cases, more sinister motives.
Governmental agencies have also struggled with the problem.
The IRS took 219 disciplinary actions, including firings and suspensions, against employees who browsed through confidential taxpayer information last year, according to the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Information. That was more than double the number the previous year.
Last month, the Minnesota Department of Public Safety said it disciplined two employees who accessed information on 400 residents from its driver's license database. The agency did not say what the discipline was because it continues to investigate. It said the employees were looking for their own entertainment, not any criminal motives.
WE Energies serves 1.1 million electric customers in Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula and 1 million natural gas customers in Wisconsin.
Shafer said in an interview that the utility took steps to eliminate the practice and only one employee has been disciplined for violations in the last year.
After the 2004 incident, the company started checking who accessed high-profile customer accounts and requiring annual training on its policies.
Still, Shafer acknowledged in her deposition last year that it would be "difficult, if not impossible" to discover many instances of misuse.
Utility regulators in Michigan and Wisconsin said they had not been notified of the company's problems. They say they do not have any rules covering such misuse.
The head of the Wisconsin Citizens' Utility Board, which lobbies on behalf of utility customers, said he was "shocked and dismayed" to learn about the practice.
"The testimony is incredibly candid. I'm very surprised that utility employees were misusing this information," said executive director Charlie Higley. "We hope WE Energies has taken steps to ensure that information is treated privately."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080223/ap_ ... ng_workers
Bill attacking REAL ID wins Senate passage despite long odds
Thursday February 28, 2008
Bill attacking REAL ID wins Senate passage despite long odds
by The Associated Press
After seeming dead in the morning, a bill objecting to a federal driver's license law passed the Senate Wednesday night after passionate debate.
The measure, ultimately passed with three dissenting votes, would block state participation in the REAL ID Act, which aims to create a national standard for driver's licenses and other identification cards in the name of homeland security.
The bill's prospects looked grim Wednesday morning, when the powerful Senate Rules Committee took it off the Senate calendar, a parliamentary move meaning it wouldn't get a vote before the full body unless it returned to the calendar.
Bills taken off the active calendar are often removed so they can die without coming to a vote. The bill blocking participation in the REAL ID Act has drawn opposition from the state Division of Motor Vehicles and Gov. Joe Manchin.
Support for the measure was rallied on the Senate floor by Sen. Clark Barnes, who has passionately argued against the REAL ID Act since the beginning of the session, distributing literature critical of the federal law.
"As West Virginians, we have some tolerance of the federal government, but very little,'' the Randolph County Republican said.
Noting that the Senate bill was supported by the American Civil Liberties Union as well as the National Rifle Association, Barnes said the REAL ID Act amounts to a violation of privacy because it would tie state DMV computer records in with a national database.
"Let's load up the muskets and draw a line along with 17 other states and holler 'montani semper liberi,''' Barnes said, referring to West Virginia's official motto, which means "mountaineers are always free.''
http://www.dailymail.com/News/200802280141
Ariz. lawmakers balk at new driver’s licenses
Ariz. lawmakers balk at new driver’s licenses
By Alice Lipowicz
Opposition is building in Arizona’s Legislature to Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano’s plan to authorize a hybrid driver’s license that also would serve as a border-crossing card and would comply with the Real ID Act.
Napolitano and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced an agreement in December to create an Arizona driver’s license that will allow holders to cross the U.S. borders under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. They also agreed that the new “enhanced driver’s licenseâ€
Senate Judiciary Committee Rebukes Chertoff For "Bullyi
Senate Judiciary Committee Rebukes Chertoff For "Bullying" States To Comply With Real ID Program
April 3, 2008 5:13 p.m. EST
Kris Alingod - AHN News Writer
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Homeland Security Department Sec. Michael Chertoff was rebuked by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for pressuring states into implementing the Real ID law.
"There are benefits to be gained by encouraging the States to make improvements in the identification they issue; everyone wants that. But I share the view that far greater cooperation would have been gained by partnering with the states, rather than imposing a costly federal mandate," Committee chair Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said. "Bullying the states is not the answer, nor threatening their citizens' right to travel. From Maine to Montana, States have said no."
"We ought to engage in a fairer, more productive negotiated rule-making with the states," he added later as Chertoff answered questions including those about immigration detention practices and backlogs in the naturalization process for new citizens.
Several states including Arizona, Maine, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and South Carolina have opposed the implementation of the Real ID Act of 2005. State officials as well as civil rights groups cite the costs of complying with the law, privacy issues and the vulnerabilities of a national ID system to counterfeiters. A March 31 deadline for states that postponed enforcing the law passed with the Homeland Department announcing that all states had made the required security upgrades to comply.
The Real ID program will require people traveling by air and doing business with federal offices to present identification that pass certain security requirements. It also forces states to tighten rules governing the issuance of drivers' licenses. Implementation of the law begins May 11.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7010530651
Lamar seeing chance to nix Real ID Act
Lamar seeing chance to nix Real ID Act
By J. Taylor Rushing
Posted: 03/25/08 07:06 PM [ET]
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wants to scrap a three-year-old anti-terrorism law that his fellow Republicans drafted in response to the Sept. 11 attacks. And with his new power in the GOP conference, he may have a chance.
Alexander’s target is the 2005 Real ID Act, which mandated that states adopt uniform federal standards for driver’s licenses. Despite the Tennessee Republican’s concerns, he was outnumbered by party colleagues who wanted to stop terrorists from exploiting loose identification laws.
This time around, Alexander has leverage. As chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, he is the third-ranking Republican in the chamber. He also has a strong ally in Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who, like most Democrats, disagrees with the law. As a former governor, Alexander also has many of the nation’s governors and state legislatures behind him. Many complain that the federal government overstepped its bounds when it enacted the legislation that included the provision and effectively passed along a huge public expense to the states.
When Congress returns next week, Alexander plans to file an amendment to the fiscal 2009 homeland security appropriations bill that would halt the program until the government finds a way to reimburse states for its cost.
“The federal government shouldn’t be able to enforce the Real ID law unless the federal government pays for it,â€
Tester investigates the cost of Real ID act
Tester investigates the cost of Real ID act
Posted: April 29, 2008 06:21 PM
Updated: April 30, 2008 12:03 PM
Montana Senator Jon Tester is questioning the real cost of the federal REAL ID program.
The program is currently expected to cost states $4 billion, mostly to pay for what Tester calls unnecessary changes to drivers licenses and computer databases.
During a Capitol Hill hearing, the Democrat warned that taxpayers will end up spending an additional $5.6 billion in secondary costs, including travel to DMV offices and time spent applying for new drivers licenses.
"This legal bobbing and weaving has done nothing to improve our homeland security, but the consequences for the states and for individuals are very meaningful. They have no idea whether to go forward with the database construction, to redesign the drivers' licenses and the training of new DMV workers that REAL ID requires."
Senator Tester also criticized the Department of Homeland Security's series of "meaningless" deadlines for states to declare whether they intend to comply with REAL ID.
The Montana Legislature unanimously rejected REAL ID last year and is one of four states that has refused to comply with the program.
-Jami Bond reporting from KTVQ in Billings
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Glob ... =menu227_7,
ACTE Urges Repeal of REAL ID
ACTE Urges Repeal of REAL ID
May 05, 2008
The Association of Corporate Travel Executives (ACTE) urged the repeal of key sections of the REAL ID Act of 2005, in written testimony presented to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee last week. According to a statement issued by the association's Global Executive Director, Susan Gurley, ACTE then endorsed the proposed Identification Security Enhancement Act (S. 717) as a "realistic and reasonable alternative" to REAL ID.
The proposed enhanced identification program has sparked a battle between some state governments, which refuse to enforce the new national standards for driver licenses, and the Department of Homeland Security, which has required the new licenses for all air travel.
"The primary objective of any government security or identity program that impacts travel is to safeguard the lives and the livelihoods of travellers - while fostering confidence in the transportation network and the people entrusted with its protection," said Gurley. "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) REAL ID program falls short of these objectives."
Gurley's detailed the shortcomings of the REAL ID Act, saying it creates a dual standard of identification for U.S. citizens traveling domestically and storing sensitive drivers license data in a questionable manner that could place the U.S. travel network at risk through fraudulent documents.
"In an attempt to strengthen certain aspects of the states' drivers licensing program, the REAL ID Act inadvertently exposed these same systems to other weaknesses," commented Gurley. She also noted that state legislators and governors from California to New Hampshire were debating the effectiveness of the REAL ID Act, and that a substantial number did not support it. "Numerous security experts from around the country also questioned the degree of security promised by REAL ID, while expressing doubt that a massive new federal database would not be breached," she added.
ACTE's endorsed the Identification Security Enhancement Act by stating it offered tighter control over the drivers licensing process, without creating an additional federal identification document. According to Gurley, the proposed legislation adds enhanced security measures, including extended consideration for privacy laws enacted by the states, and provisions which prohibit the use of this enhanced identification by third parties. ACTE has been a longtime advocate of traveller redress and resolution in regard to data, and applauded the fact that the Identification Security Enhancement Act provides for due process.
http://www.meetingnews.com/mimegasite/n ... 1003798492
4 groups challenging new Maine laws
4 groups challenging new Maine laws
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May 6, 2008
AUGUSTA, Maine—Maine election officials say they've accepted applications from four groups that are challenging two recently enacted laws.
more stories like this
One law one deals with Dirigo Health and new taxes to pay for it, and the other bolsters Maine driver's license requirements to bring the state into closer compliance with the federal Real ID law.
Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said Tuesday the four applications came in before Monday's 5 p.m. deadline. That sets the stage for the groups to collect voters' signatures in order force people's veto votes.
Some of the campaign leaders left the door open to combining efforts with campaigns dealing with similar issues. The could mean two rather than four repeal efforts will be conducted.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/ ... aine_laws/
Lawmakers approves proposed prohibition on REAL ID standards
Published: 05.07.2008
Lawmakers approves proposed prohibition on REAL ID standards
The Associated Press
The Arizona Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would prohibit Arizona's participation in new federal security standards program for driver's licenses.
The 21-7 vote sends the proposal to the House, which had approved a milder version of the bill in March but will now consider a key change made by the Senate.
The House version would prohibit the state's participation in the REAL ID program without the approval of the Legislature. The Senate made it a flat prohibition.
The REAL ID law requires all states to bring their driver's licenses under a national standard and to link their record-keeping systems. It draws criticism because of the costs. Other criticism centers on the federal mandate and whether it would be effective.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/84558.php
Petitions Filed to Overturn Real ID Compliance Law
Petitions Filed to Overturn Real ID Compliance Law
Written by Victoria Wallack
Thursday, May 08, 2008
AUGUSTA — Two applications for people’s veto petitions have been filed to overturn the law passed last month that puts Maine on the path to compliance with the federal REAL ID Act — a law opponents say violates people’s civil liberties.
The law, which passed the Legislature after hours of debate that stretched over days, requires the state’s Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) to check and see if a driver’s license applicant is in the country legally. It also requires the secretary of state’s office, which oversees the BMV, to develop a cost-effective way, such as facial recognition or fingerprint technology, to ensure an applicant does not have more than one driver’s license or non-driver identification card.
Governor John Baldacci put in the legislation under pressure from the Department of Homeland Security, which threatened that Mainers would no longer be able to use their driver’s licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings if the state didn’t tighten up its licensing process. It finally passed 19-15 in the Senate and 79-58 in the House.
Kathleen McGee, an activist from Bowdoinham, and Donna Bendiksen, a Republican House candidate from Portland, both filed veto applications to overturn the law entirely.
McGee said Tuesday she and Bendiksen plan to work together.
“This is about people’s right to privacy and the ability to live in a democracy without the infringement of the federal government overseeing their every move,â€
Tester: Real ID erodes privacy
Tester: Real ID erodes privacy
By NOELLE STRAUB Missoulian D.C. Bureau
WASHINGTON - Sen. Jon Tester on Wednesday said recent government programs, including the Real ID Act, have violated privacy and built executive power to the extent that it threatens national security.
“The Real ID Act was yet another in a series of sweeping laws and programs that represent an invasion of privacy by the government that far exceeds anything that we've seen in a generation,â€
States Bi-partisanly Oppose Real ID -- Still
States Bi-partisanly Oppose Real ID -- Still
by Ericka Andersen
Posted: 05/08/2008
Two years in the making, the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed regulations to implement the “Real IDâ€
People's Veto Petitions Take Aim At REAL ID Law
People's Veto Petitions Take Aim At REAL ID Law
Story date: 05/07/2008
By Victoria Wallack
Two applications for people's veto petitions have been filed to overturn the law passed last month that puts Maine on the path to compliance with the federal REAL ID Act -- a law opponents say violates people's civil liberties.
The law, which passed the Legislature after hours of debate that stretched over days, requires the state's Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) to check and see if a driver's license applicant is in the country legally.
It also requires the Secretary of State, who oversees the BMV, to develop a cost-effective way, such as facial recognition or fingerprint technology, to ensure an applicant does not have more than one driver's license or non-driver identification card.
Gov. John Baldacci put in the legislation under pressure from the Dept. of Homeland Security, which threatened that Mainers would no longer be able to use their driver's licenses to board planes or enter federal buildings if the state didn't tighten up its licensing process. It finally passed 19 to 15 in the Senate and 79 to 58 in the House.
Kathleen McGee, an activist from Bowdoinham, and Donna Bendiksen, a Republican House candidate from Portland, both filed veto applications to overturn the law entirely.
McGee said Tuesday she and Bendiksen plan to work together.
"This is about people's right to privacy and the ability to live in a democracy without the infringement of the federal government overseeing their every move," McGee said. "This is a basic democratic issue and it crosses all party lines."
That brings to four the number of applications filed with the Secretary of State to launch a veto drive. The other two are focused on the beer, wine, soda and insurance taxes passed to fund the subsidized Dirigo Health insurance program.
The deadline for filing a veto petition application was Monday at 5 p.m. The Secretary of State will now approve language for the petitions. In order to get the vetoes on the November ballot, petitioners must collect 55,087 signatures of registered voters by July 17.
(State House News Service)
http://www.mainelincolncountynews.com/i ... m?ID=32072
State Real ID rebellion: Here to stay?
May 7, 2008 11:51 AM PDT
State Real ID rebellion: Here to stay?
Posted by Anne Broache | 1 comment
WASHINGTON--Politicians from states opposed to the U.S. government's Real ID plan had one message on Wednesday: It's not too late to turn this ship around.
Democratic Senator Jon Tester
(Credit: U.S. Senate)
Mark Sanford, the Republican governor of South Carolina, and Jon Tester, a Democratic U.S. senator from Montana, on Wednesday delivered a now-familiar bruising to the controversial national driver's license standards, which they criticized as an unfunded mandate that passed with no formal debate in Congress, posing threats to U.S. citizens' privacy and states' authority.
Now that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has extended deadlines for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the rules have essentially been punted to the next administration. That "baton passing" stage is a key opportunity to continue rebelling against the rules, the two politicians told a packed auditorium at an event sponsored by the Cato Institute, a free-market think tank that opposes Real ID.
"With a broad-based group, we can make some changes, but you need to be active, you need to be vocal, you need to be talking to your folks," Tester said.
Tester is one of the sponsors of Identification Security Enhancement Act, which would yank Real ID and replace it with a "negotiated" rulemaking process that was proposed before Real ID was glued onto an emergency Iraq war spending bill that passed unanimously in 2005. At a hearing last week, some senators indicated they'd be pushing for that proposal's enactment into law, although a timeline is unclear.
Sanford, for his part, is worried that many people are "sleeping through" the debate and urged opponents to help awaken them to the problems that he and other state officials see with Real ID. He charged that the plan is "the mother of all unfunded mandates" (with an estimated $116 million price tag for his small state), will force his state's residents to endure long waits at the Department of Motor Vehicles, meddles in states' governing powers, and requires interlinked databases that could offer "one-stop shopping for every computer hacker around the world."
Homeland Security, for its part, argues that more secure driver's licenses and identification documents are necessary to prevent terrorists, identity thieves, and illegal immigrants from committing wrongdoing, and it views Real ID as a pathway to that end.
The department has always characterized Real ID as voluntary, but when the rules kick in, state residents won't be able to board airplanes or enter federal buildings unless they present without a compliant identification card, driver's license, or U.S. passport. The first wave of requirements were originally supposed to kick in May 11, but any potential airport chaos has been postponed until at least the end of next year: The agency has since opted all 50 states and the District of Columbia deadline extensions for beginning to come into compliance with Real ID--whether they requested them or not.
South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford
(Credit: South Carolina Governor's Office)
South Carolina is one of eight states that has passed legislation prohibiting implementation of Real ID--and it also falls into the category of states that vowed to stick by that position, Sanford said. (Ten other states have passed resolutions opposing Real ID, and two more--Arizona and Alaska--may be joining the rebellion soon.)
In late March, Sanford sent a letter (PDF) to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in which he said he could not authorize the state to comply with Real ID and outlining a list of concerns with the policy. The governor recounted receiving a "bizarre" response: an effectively unsolicited deadline extension.
Sanford suggested he'll continue to uphold his state's law rejecting Real ID and indicated Homeland Security's behavior is nothing more than politics as usual. "There's a real tendency in the political process to kick the can," he said. "Everyone wants to have a reasonably good day. The idea of having a meltdown on a policy or proposal that you're responsible for is not exactly an idea of a good day."
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-993833 ... log.promos
Groups Challenging New Maine Health Tax, Driver's License La
Groups Challenging New Maine Health Tax, Driver's License Laws
By Glenn Adams
May 8, 2008
Maine election officials said this week that they've accepted applications from four groups that are challenging a pair of recently enacted laws, but the four groups could morph into two as the campaigns develop.
A group calling itself the Fed Up With Taxes coalition is leading a people's veto proposal seeking to repeal new taxes to bolster the Dirigo Health program. They include tax increases on beer, wine, soda and other soft drinks, and a 1.8 percent surcharge on paid insurance claims.
A second proposal is broader and seeks to repeal the entire law revamping the state-run Dirigo program. The law includes market and finance reforms as well as the tax increases.
The other legislation targeted by people's veto campaigns bolsters Maine driver's license requirements to bring the state into closer compliance with the federal Real ID law. Among other things, the law requires that license applicants are in the country legally.
The twin challenges of each of the bills raise questions as to whether efforts to derail the respective laws will be combined. There was no clear answer on this week, but some of the leaders were leaving the door wide open to the idea.
"We are an open coalition and anyone who wants to lend their support, we welcome them,'' said Newell Augur, leader of the Fed Up With Taxes group.
Stop Taxing ME, the group that wants to repeal the entire Dirigo reform law, is open to joining forces with the other campaign, said spokesman Aaron Sterling.
The Stop Taxing ME group submitted a proposal to repeal the whole law because it was not clear on whether a people's veto effort can just target part of a law, said Sterling. But it is clearly the tax increases his group is targeting, he said.
Sterling said Stop Taxing ME will proceed independently for now "because we haven't been approached by anyone else to team up,'' but added, "We certainly would welcome that.''
Donna Bendiksen of Portland, a candidate for the Legislature and leader of one of the efforts to repeal the driver's license law, had similar sentiments, saying, "We welcome all the help we can get.''
The leader of the other effort, Kathleen McGee of Bowdoinham, said her group's intention is to combine forces in what she called a nonpartisan effort that has backing from all over the political spectrum.
"Yes, absolutely, we will be working together,'' McGee said.
Bendiksen believes the law, which was passed under pressure from the federal Department of Homeland Security, will compromise privacy protections and discriminate against immigrants who are in the country legally.
"The Real ID law is not going to help. It's just going to make it harder to get a job, to keep a job and to travel,'' she said.
With the four campaigns' applications complete, election officials will review them. "Barring any problems, the Bureau of Elections will soon provide the applicants with petition forms, so they can begin the work of gathering signatures from people who support their veto efforts,'' Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said.
State election officials won't eliminate one proposal or another because of the duplication, said Don Cookson, spokesman for Dunlap's office. He said it would be up to the applicants to combine efforts if they choose to do so.
Once petition forms are provided to proponents, they will have until 5 p.m. on July 17 to submit at least 55,087 signatures in order to have their veto question appear on the statewide ballot in November.
The Dirigo Health and driver's license laws have their defenders, most notably Gov. John Baldacci, who supported both bills before signing them last month.
The administration said changes were needed to restore the integrity and security of driver's licenses, and that the law would protect the interests of people who want to board aircraft or enter a federal building without encountering the extra cost of getting a passport or other federal identification.
The governor has long championed Dirigo Health, which he said helps working families, small businesses and the self-employed.
The Maine Democratic Party, acknowledging the people's veto efforts aimed at Dirigo, issued a statement saying Dirigo has saved Mainers $110 million in health care costs.
"Any effort to repeal recent funding legislation would seriously threaten what has been a critical safety net for individuals, families, and small businesses that otherwise would likely not be able to afford insurance at all,'' the statement said.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/ea ... /89821.htm