Don't make drivers pay for new license rules

THE ISSUE A national survey indicates that implementation of new driver's license rules could cost $11 billion over five years.

HAWAII state officials expected that federal security rules for issuing driver's licenses would be expensive, but the enormous cost is prompting states to ask for an extension of the compliance deadline. The problem is a glaring example of how the high cost of the war in Iraq is diminishing the country's capability of being secure against terrorism.

The Real ID Act of 2005, recommended by the Sept. 11, 2001, commission, requires states to incorporate common security features to prevent counterfeiting or tampering. All states would have to use the same materials to print the cards and buy equipment to digitally store the documents.

The cost will be greater in Hawaii and Alaska, which lack connections by land with other states.

"The problem for us is communications," Dennis Kamimura, administrator of the city Motor Vehicle and Licensing Division, said following the law's enactment last year. "I expect it to be very expensive."

The need for the rule change was shown to be crucial by the fact that seven of the 9/11 hijackers were able to obtain driver's licenses and identification cards without proving legal residency or identity. The biggest cost will be re-enrolling 245 million people who have licenses or ID cards but need to verify them with birth certificates or Social Security cards.

A survey of states released last week shows the new rules could cost $11 billion to implement over the next five years. That is about what the United States spends in Iraq over a six-week period.

"The $11 billion question is, Who's going to pay for it?" said William Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislators, one of the survey's sponsors. Congress is authorized by the Real ID Act to pay for the changes, but it does not specify the amount.

Hawaii and other states should not be forced into paying for the changes by raising gasoline taxes, fees and fines.