Nbadan
07-21-2006, 03:45 AM
Price of drivers' licenses may jump
Web Posted: 07/18/2006 11:14 PM CDT
Lisa Sandberg
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Texas motorists applying for or renewing their drivers' licenses could pay much higher fees and wait in much longer lines once federal law standardizing them takes effect in 2008, said a state lawmaker who's been briefed on the costs.
Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, said Texans could see license fees jump to more than $100, from the $24 they now pay, when the federal government begins requiring states to issue uniform drivers' licenses — what many consider a de-facto national ID card.
The change also would eliminate the convenience of online and mail renewals and would even require renewing motorists to produce both their Social Security cards and their birth certificates in person at Department of Public Safety offices.
The new state-issued, federally approved licenses will be "more secure than passports," said Van De Putte, who got a review of the issue from DPS officials because next month she will become president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
And while she supports many of the provisions in the REAL ID Act — anti-terrorism legislation Congress passed last year — she takes issue with who will pay for it.
"If the federal government wanted a national ID card, they should have passed it on the national level. We're looking at a huge unfunded mandate," Van De Putte said.
She said senior DPS officials told her the changes will cost Texas an estimated $168 million in the first year and $104 million per year in subsequent years.
But the $100 fee that Van De Putte said the officials told her might be necessary would raise a lot more money than that, since last year the state issued 700,000 new licenses and processed 2.6 million renewals — which at $100 each would amount to $330 million.
A DPS spokeswoman, Lisa Block, said the agency would not confirm cost estimates because it's still analyzing them.
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, who sits on the Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said DPS officials are expected to issue a full report on the matter.
Congress last year required that all states issue electronically readable, federally approved ID cards or drivers' licenses.
It was one of the recommendations adopted by the 9-11 commission after it became known that all but one of the hijackers had obtained drivers' licenses or other state identity cards.
The specifics of how the new law will be applied are still being worked out by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials. What isn't in dispute is that more documentation — and more verification of it by states — will be required.
Texas has nearly 16 million legal drivers.
When the new law goes into effect, those who want to renew their licenses will have to get in line with the new applicants, at least the first time they renew, Van De Putte said.
They'll have to produce both a Social Security card and a birth certificate, each of which will need to be verified by agency employees. People will be further identified through the use of biometrics, from fingerprints to retinal scans.
"People complain about the lines now," said Van De Putte, predicting longer lines with the new requirements.
She said DPS officials estimate they will need to hire an additional 800 to 900 full-time employees statewide and open new offices while expanding existing ones.
States can opt out of the program but face dire consequences, such as having their residents barred from using their identification cards to board airline flights.
Critics say the new law will infringe on privacy rights — without making the country more secure.
"The REAL ID Act will make it a little harder for terrorists to get documents, but it won't make it impossible," said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank. "It'll give states information on the law abiding but it doesn't protect against the law breaker."
[email protected]
In 2008, show us your papers will become show us your biometric card and they are passing 100% of the invasion of privacy cost down directly to you, but at least they can keep claiming that they aren't raising taxes.
Not that anyone is paying attention.
Web Posted: 07/18/2006 11:14 PM CDT
Lisa Sandberg
Express-News Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — Texas motorists applying for or renewing their drivers' licenses could pay much higher fees and wait in much longer lines once federal law standardizing them takes effect in 2008, said a state lawmaker who's been briefed on the costs.
Sen. Leticia Van De Putte, D-San Antonio, said Texans could see license fees jump to more than $100, from the $24 they now pay, when the federal government begins requiring states to issue uniform drivers' licenses — what many consider a de-facto national ID card.
The change also would eliminate the convenience of online and mail renewals and would even require renewing motorists to produce both their Social Security cards and their birth certificates in person at Department of Public Safety offices.
The new state-issued, federally approved licenses will be "more secure than passports," said Van De Putte, who got a review of the issue from DPS officials because next month she will become president of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
And while she supports many of the provisions in the REAL ID Act — anti-terrorism legislation Congress passed last year — she takes issue with who will pay for it.
"If the federal government wanted a national ID card, they should have passed it on the national level. We're looking at a huge unfunded mandate," Van De Putte said.
She said senior DPS officials told her the changes will cost Texas an estimated $168 million in the first year and $104 million per year in subsequent years.
But the $100 fee that Van De Putte said the officials told her might be necessary would raise a lot more money than that, since last year the state issued 700,000 new licenses and processed 2.6 million renewals — which at $100 each would amount to $330 million.
A DPS spokeswoman, Lisa Block, said the agency would not confirm cost estimates because it's still analyzing them.
State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, who sits on the Senate's Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said DPS officials are expected to issue a full report on the matter.
Congress last year required that all states issue electronically readable, federally approved ID cards or drivers' licenses.
It was one of the recommendations adopted by the 9-11 commission after it became known that all but one of the hijackers had obtained drivers' licenses or other state identity cards.
The specifics of how the new law will be applied are still being worked out by U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials. What isn't in dispute is that more documentation — and more verification of it by states — will be required.
Texas has nearly 16 million legal drivers.
When the new law goes into effect, those who want to renew their licenses will have to get in line with the new applicants, at least the first time they renew, Van De Putte said.
They'll have to produce both a Social Security card and a birth certificate, each of which will need to be verified by agency employees. People will be further identified through the use of biometrics, from fingerprints to retinal scans.
"People complain about the lines now," said Van De Putte, predicting longer lines with the new requirements.
She said DPS officials estimate they will need to hire an additional 800 to 900 full-time employees statewide and open new offices while expanding existing ones.
States can opt out of the program but face dire consequences, such as having their residents barred from using their identification cards to board airline flights.
Critics say the new law will infringe on privacy rights — without making the country more secure.
"The REAL ID Act will make it a little harder for terrorists to get documents, but it won't make it impossible," said Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based libertarian think tank. "It'll give states information on the law abiding but it doesn't protect against the law breaker."
[email protected]
In 2008, show us your papers will become show us your biometric card and they are passing 100% of the invasion of privacy cost down directly to you, but at least they can keep claiming that they aren't raising taxes.
Not that anyone is paying attention.