Governors: Driver's license costs to soar
By ROBERT TANNER
AP NATIONAL WRITER
Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell speaks during
the closing session at the National Governors Association
annual meeting, Monday, July 18, 2005, in Des Moines,
Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Fees for a new driver's license could triple. Lines at motor vehicles offices could stretch out the door. Governors warned Monday that states and consumers would bear much of the burden for a terrorism-driven push to turn licenses into a national ID card.
"It's a huge problem," said Democrat Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. "Trying to make this work, there will be hell to pay." He said it would cost his state "$100 million-plus" to restructure motor vehicle offices to respond to a new federal law called the REAL ID Act.
The law that passed in June as part of an $82 million military spending bill goes beyond an earlier measure that sought to standardize state driver's licenses. By 2008, states must begin to verify whether license applicants are American citizens or legal residents of the United States.
That deadline brought the first question in a closed-door session between governors and federal officials on homeland security Monday at the National Governors Association meeting.
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