Senate panel wants feds to pay for Real ID

A Senate committee this afternoon advanced a bill that takes South Carolina out of the controversial Real ID program unless the federal government picks up the tab.

Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said the new law carries the "potential for the biggest crisis that will face the Department of Motor Vehcles in modern times."

The measure says South Carolina will only participate in the program, which requires new national identication cards, only if the federal government agrees to pay for the program.

The Senate Transportation Committee gave the bill a favorable report. It now heads to the full Senate.

Martin said the ID program could cost between $20 million to $25 million to start up and $10 million to $15 million a year to operate.

"They're not gonna fund it," Martin said. Congress will hold it's first public hearings on the Real ID program Monday in Washington, D.C.

Comments

[Joseph C. M.]

Senate panel wants feds to pay for Real ID:

Senate Panel should read the Constitution of the United States!

Senate Panel should push to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States!

Senate Panel should push to create a D.C.S.(Department of Constitutional Security) to keep the D.H.S. in check.

Apparently the Senate Panel does not care about the Constitution of the United States,
so they continue forward with this Real ID Act.

If the Senate Panel even remotely gave a dam about the Constitution of the United States, then they would be pushing the feds to completely drop the Real ID Act and push the feds to create a D.C.S.(Department of Constitutional Security) to keep the D.H.S. in check.

[Paul S]

The state should not conform to the Real ID standards. But they will. They will cower to the almighty federal government, like a whipped dog. The federal government will simply threaten to cut off funding of some type to force the state to comply.