SC Decides to Dump Real ID Program

After state lawmakers talked about it for months, it’s now official; South Carolina will not participate in the federal REAL ID program. Gov. Mark Sanford signed the resolution Wednesday afternoon at the DMV office on Saluda Dam Road in Greenville.

Congress passed REAL ID two years ago in an effort to tighten the security of states’ driver’s licenses and ID cards. It requires states to verify an applicant’s documents. But that means states would have to link their databases with each other and the federal government in order to verify birth certificates and other documents from others states.

That lengthier process would mean longer lines at the DMV. Gov. Sanford reminded people of the hours-long waits at SC DMV offices a few years ago. “What this bill (REAL ID) would bring us back to is those same longer lines,” he said.

Michael Mahaffey of Greenville certainly doesn’t want that. He was getting his license renewed Wednesday and says he waited more than two hours before. “As far as today, it’s almost computer-fast compared to whatever it has been before,” he says.

But there’s a major potential problem in South Carolina’s action in refusing to take part in REAL ID. The federal law says citizens will have to have a REAL ID-compliant license or ID in order to board an airplane or enter a federal building. Now that we’ve opted out, what will South Carolina citizens do?

Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, sponsor of the resolution saying the state will not participate, says, “There are bills pending in Congress to repeal the REAL ID or greatly alter it. I think this will greatly add to that incentive. The federal government cannot afford to have millions and millions of its citizens unable to get on an airplane.”

South Carolina is now one of 32 states that have either opted out or have bills pending to do so.

One of the other main reasons the state is not participating is the cost. The DMV estimates it would cost $25 million to implement the program the first year and cost an additional $11 million every year after that.