Comply with federal ID law, House to ask governor

The House has introduced a measure asking Gov. Mark Sanford to request an extension to implement new federal identification standards.

The rules, known as Real ID, are meant to make state IDs more secure and uniform. If South Carolina does not comply with the law or request an extension, then state resident would need a passport or other federally-issued ID to fly, open a bank account and other other transactions.

The House passed a bill last year rejecting Real ID as an unfunded federal mandate. The state estimates the plan could cost more than $20 million up front and an additional $10 million a year.

But House Speaker Bobby Harrell, R-Charleston, said they can not allow a "bureaucratic slip-up" from inconveniencing South Carolinians.

Gov. Mark Sanford said he is considering asking for an extension. The state has until the end of the month to file a request.

Comments

[Faith P. Efird]

Comply with the Fed. I D Law!!! I have a passport that's no problem for me.
Think of security for our wonderful homeland!!!If I didn't know better I'd think there was a conspiracy to bring this country to it's knees.

[Jon]

Based on this snipped of information, I can understand why Faith feels this way.

The truth is, the id becomes a state-proxy for a federal ID, something that is yet another step towards a federally controlled populace. The electronic readability standards will cause commercial entities to require swipes of your ID card, increasing even more the amount of information they have about the habits of a consumer.

Where are the conservatives on this issue? The erosion of freedoms is terrifying. It is bad enough that terrorists took down two towers and thousands of lives on 911, but they have inspired our government to take away important characteristics of American values and culture in the name of security. This destruction of the the best things about America for 200 million people is a far worse crime than what a bunch of fanatic islamist thugs pulled off.

No to Real ID! Yes to preserving states rights and the value of individual privacy!

[richard]

good god is there anything on this states website that anyone agrees with.federal state and local governments are all doing what they want to do and not what we want.all we do is say remember these people and vote them out.folks it aint possible.