To our relief, something about Bobby Hartwell’s story has tugged at the heartstrings of state officials.
Hartwell is the 57-year-old developmentally disabled Coloradan on the verge of losing his government benefits because he doesn’t have proper identification required by a new state law. The 2006 law was meant to prevent undocumented residents from getting taxpayer-funded benefits. If Hartwell doesn’t produce a birth certificate or other acceptable ID by July 1, he stands to lose his apartment. To allow that to happen would be abominable. He already has lost his eligibility for food stamps.
And Hartwell is not alone. Potentially hundreds of homeless, elderly and mentally ill Coloradans could be in the same predicament – legal citizens who don’t have the documents to prove it. Lawmakers were warned of such unintended consequences last summer as they rushed to pass the law in a special legislative session. Instead of taking a common-sense approach for documents from vulnerable citizens like Hartwell, lawmakers made the requirements even stricter than federal rules for the planned Real ID card, and provided a grace period to March 1 to get their papers in order. Last week, the deadline was extended to July 1 under a new law that also requires Colorado’s Revenue Department to add additional forms of ID.
For Hartwell, the extension is of little use. He was put in a state home for “mental defectives” when he was a year old. From there, he went from one institution to another and was released in 1980 with little documentation. Thanks to the intercession of friendly Coloradans, Hartwell has been taught to live independently and is actually saving the state money by doing so.
Since The Denver Post reported on Hartwell’s plight last Sunday, state officials have scrambled to change the system.They’re not ready to describe potential remedies, but we hope they will be sensible and effective – and expeditious so people like Hartwell don’t have to worry about their eligibility for state housing assistance or federal food stamps. State officials also need to be mindful of the federal law that protects people with disabilities, said Maureen Farrell, executive director of an advocacy group challenging the ID requirements.
The 2006 law established five ID requirements to get services: a Colorado driver’s license, state photo ID card, a tribal document, military ID or merchant mariner card. To get one of those IDs, Hartwell must produce a birth certificate. To get a birth certificate, he needs the state photo ID. It’s a vicious cycle, and state officials need to correct the problem in a hurry.
