March 16--AUGUSTA, Maine -- Two Maine legislators sent a letter to President Donald Trump on Thursday asking him to repeal parts of a federal identification program that have spurred privacy concerns and policy headaches over the state's non-compliance with the law.

It's supported by Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap, who has been leading the fight to preserve a 2007 law that bars the state from complying with the federal REAL ID Act. In January, the federal government stopped accepting Maine driver's licenses at certain facilities.

The plea to Trump from two libertarian-leaning state senators -- Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, and Shenna Bellows, D-Manchester -- is effectively emerging as a rival plan to a bill from Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, which would make Maine comply with the federal law.

Maine has implemented many REAL ID provisions, but it's one of five states in non-compliance, having balked at controversial data warehousing requirements in the law, such as using facial recognition software in the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and fingerprinting bureau employees.

Brakey and Bellows want Trump to repeal those types of provision with an executive order, with the letter asking Trump to take "quick action" to "to preserve the safety and liberty of all Americans" from the "impending security and privacy disaster" that is REAL ID's final stages.

It called the barring of entry to federal facilities "the worst kind of blackmail." Maine's position will be worse in January 2018, when licenses won't be accepted by airlines for boarding domestic flights, although passports or passport cards will be valid.

Dunlap, a Democrat, said Maine would be in compliance with the law if Trump took that action, although he said he didn't know the Republican president's stance on the issue.

"Once you start complying, you don't know what the purposes will then be designated for or what additional requirements may come down the road," he said.

The Legislature has given initial approval to a bill from Assistant House Majority Leader Jared Golden, D-Lewiston, that would fund passport cards for veterans who get health care at Pease Air Force Base in New Hampshire, but it awaits funding before final passage. Diamond's bill will be considered by the Legislature's Transportation Committee on Thursday.

Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.

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(Legal Newsline) — A federal judge won’t prematurely end a class action accusing State Farm of misleading thousands of life insurance customers by selling policies issued by a company it knew was facing a massive capital shortfall.

U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall denied State Farm’s motion to dismiss a complaint from clients in nine states who bought PHL Variable Life Insurance Company policies from State Farm and its subsidiaries between 2001 and 2009.

According to Kendall, the complaint alleged four counts on behalf of a putative nationwide class: breach of fiduciary duty, professional negligence, unjust enrichment and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Subclasses from Illinois, California and New Jersey would bring state law allegations. Kendall said she ordered additional briefing on choice-of-law issues for the state law claims and noted those issues preclude her from resolving the dismissal request.

“Judicial economy favors addressing class certification before reaching the merits of the claims,” Kendall wrote in the ruling. “The 14 named plaintiffs are from nine different states and are bringing state law claims on behalf of themselves and a purported nationwide class.”

Although both sides argued Kendall didn’t need to analyze which laws should apply in order to rule on the motion to dismiss, given no differences in state law would dictate different outcomes, she said that framing “is difficult to accept given the parties’ apparent misapprehension of the laws they invoke. Throughout their briefing, the parties conflate the distinct roles of insurer, insurance agent and insurance broker and cite legal rules applicable to those roles interchangeably. Even a cursory review of the relevant states’ laws reveals material differences across jurisdictions.”

For example, she said, under Illinois law, only brokers, and not agents or insurers, have a fiduciary duty to insured customers. But “the Insurance Placement Liability Act bars liability for a breach of fiduciary claim brought against an insurance broker unless it involves the wrongful retention or misappropriation of funds,” she wrote, while “none of the other eight states limits liability for breach of fiduciary claims in this way. Seven states recognize breach of fiduciary duty claims in the insurance context, albeit with their own caveats and nuances.”

She further explained how Illinois law on insurance-based negligence claims conflicts with other states and said she is obligated to consider nuances when deciding which laws to use while analyzing the underlying allegations, especially since the complaint proposes a nationwide class.

Were she to rule on the dismissal motion before the choice-of-law analysis, that may require her “to determine the laws governing the claims of the nine named plaintiffs, potentially dismiss some claims, and then revisit those same state-law differences in determining whether and to what extent a nationwide class may be certified,” Kendall wrote. “Further, resolving class certification first may substantially narrow the case if the court narrows the nationwide class or declines to certify it.”

Kendall acknowledged State Farm might’ve been cost conscious in moving for dismissal before the plaintiffs sought certification, but reiterated that “is not the most efficient course” regarding this litigation and said she wouldn’t rule on dismissal until she addresses certification. Although the plaintiffs haven’t yet filed such a motion, she advised both sides to discuss next steps at a status hearing and denied the motion to dismiss without prejudice.