Gov. Sanford deserves applause for stand on REAL ID

Gov. Mark Sanford decided not to request an extension of time for compliance with the federal REAL ID program. I applaud his steadfast defense of South Carolinians and their rights and their pocketbooks.

REAL ID represents nothing less than a massive federal intrusion with a multi-year, multi-million dollar price tag paid for by South Carolinians. REAL ID promises to return the state's Department of Motor Vehicles to the days of multiple trips and waits of an hour or more.

REAL ID threatens to leave thousands of South Carolinians without the ability to drive at all. REAL ID, finally, offers no solution to security. If federal documents were the answer, then we would have no illegal aliens in this country. Thank you, governor, for telling the federal government to keep their national ID card.

The cost alone warrants Gov. Sanford's defiance. The S.C. DMV reports that to implement REAL ID, it must develop new processes and build verification systems that do not currently exist. This would require an estimated $16 million in one-time funds and $10 million in ongoing funds. That is $10 million dollars a year, every year, that could be spent on education, public safety or roads and bridges, instead of paying for a federal mandate that offers no real hope of making us any safer than we are now.

REAL ID would cost individual South Carolinians as well.

The DMV reports that a REAL ID could cost as much as $60 as opposed to the $25 for our driver's license. Also, our current driver's licenses remain valid for 10 years, whereas a REAL ID remains valid for only eight. Anyone who needs a license for the next 40 years would spend an extra $200 for the privilege.

The REAL ID also would immediately return our DMV waiting rooms to the clogged mess they used to be. The process to issue a REAL ID would change considerably, compared to the way the DMV currently issues driver's licenses. The DMV would have to take the necessary documents and verify them for authenticity and scan them into its database.

These additional steps could increase the average wait time from 15 minutes to one hour, and that wait could grow to as much as two hours during peak operating times.

This scenario applies if you only have to go once. But, suppose you do not bring the right documents. When South Carolinians apply for a REAL ID, they must provide proof of citizenship, a Social Security card and proof of residency. Married or divorced women must also provide a marriage license or divorce decree to document their name change.

Customers would not leave the field office with a REAL ID that day. Instead, they would receive a temporary non-compliant credential. The DMV would electronically verify all of the source documents, and the REAL ID would be mailed to customers within two to three weeks after the office visit. But, if any documents failed, the applicants would get to start all over.

The reality remains that many, South Carolinians will never qualify for a REAL ID. Prior to 2002, the DMV did not require an applicant to present a certified birth certificate, a Social Security card or proof of residency. If customers did not have a birth certificate, they could provide two of the following: a family Bible, a census report, an insurance policy more than 5 years old, military DD214, a passport, immigration papers, a visa, a baptismal record, school records, a military ID card, or a letter from the Social Security Administration. If they received their driver's license prior to 2002 with any of these documents, they now would be disqualified.

The final ruse in the REAL ID drama is the idea of an "extension." Proponents of an extension have argued that it offers South Carolina more time to study the implications of the REAL ID. The federal government sees it otherwise. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Amy Kudwa said recently, "We're pleased that states continue to work with us toward implementation, and this will be an ongoing dialogue." She added that, "An extension request is not an extension simply for more time, it's an extension to move toward compliance. So it needs to be a good-faith request for extension."

Gov. Sanford easily realized that the REAL ID offered South Carolinians much headache and expense (and offered some the prospect of never driving again), while offering little if any guarantee of increased security. Gov. Sanford deserves our thanks for standing up to the federal government and protecting our rights.

Sen. W. Greg Ryberg, Republican, represents Dist. 24 in Aiken County.