Nationally, complying with the act is projected to cost states at least $11 billion over the same span and probably more, according to a survey of states by the National Governors Association, National Conference of State Legislatures and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA). The groups received survey responses from 47 of 51 jurisdictions nationally.
"There's no question that state legislators believe drivers' licenses should be as secure as is possible," said Bill Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "The $11 billion question is, 'Who's going to pay for it?' "
Jeff Lungren, spokesman for House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., who sponsored the Real ID Act, said the congressman "is refraining from commenting on the wildly inaccurate estimates imagined today." He said Sensenbrenner may comment when the cost estimates are released.
The 9/11 Commission recommended standardized identification requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to prevent potential terrorists from obtaining fraudulent licenses.
Congress passed the Real ID Act in May 2005, requiring states to meet certain minimal security standards. States, for example, have to maintain digital copies of documents used to obtain a license; re-issue new licenses in person within five years; and include various security features on the license itself.
If states don't comply, the license will not be able to be used as a federally approved identification for boarding an airplane or entering a federal building.
Nannette Rolfe, director of the Utah driver license division, said her office estimates that it will cost $2.5 million to buy equipment and get facilities in place upfront, then $2.5 million each year the requirements are in place, and those estimates are likely low.
For example, in Utah, all 1.6 million driver license holders and 250,000 identification card users would have to visit their local driver license office and provide the required identification documents, instead of simply renewing their cards through the mail.
"States are already operating at full capacity just to meet existing demand," said Tom Wolfsohn, chief policy officer for AAMVA. The new requirements will dramatically increase the manpower needed to keep up.
Nationally, the time needed to process an application would double in most states and triple in some areas.
Even if the Congress helps states pick up the tab for implementing the program, making all the required changes by May 2008 is impractical, the report said, especially since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) still hasn't finished its regulations on exactly what will be required of the states.
The DHS plans to issue regulations and a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis on the Real ID Act by the end of the year, but it doesn't expect to request any changes in the law, said spokesman Jarrod Agen.
"We feel that the states would be able to comply by 2008," Agen said. It will be up to Congress to appropriate the money, he said.
Rolfe said Utah is redesigning its driver license to comply with the Real ID Act. That new design is due out in November. The Legislature also now requires state ID cards to be renewed every five years, instead of every 10.
"Anything we can do at this point, we are doing. . . . We haven't been able to do a whole lot," Rolfe said.
Congress has set aside $40 million so far to implement the act, but Rolfe said that doesn't look like it will scratch the surface.
"It almost appears that some of it is going to fall back to the state," she said.
