Driver license costs could go up
Reason: New federal anti-terrorism law
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, July 20, 2006

Texans could soon get a jolt when they apply for a driver's license. Or
maybe not.

State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, was quoted Wednesday as
saying Department of Public Safety officials alerted her that the cost
of a license could jump from $24 for six years to a whopping $100 or
more.

Reason: A new federal anti-terrorism law requiring all states' driver's
licenses to be the same and much more sophisticated. Read that as more
costly.

"We're looking at a huge, unfunded mandate," she told the San Antonio
Express-News.

Even so, state officials quickly insisted that the $100 estimate is not
a certainty, or even a good estimate, perhaps, since federal rules
covering the new licenses have not been approved.

They noted that any increase in the cost of licenses would have to be
approved by the Texas Legislature, an unlikely group to quadruple the
cost if public outrage were to surface as expected over such a steep
increase.

"DPS has done some modeling of costs, but the exact regulations are
still in the rulemaking process, so it's premature to have hard and
fast estimates," said Rachael Novier, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick
Perry.

She said Perry is going to ask the Department of Homeland Security "to
cover cost increases from any change they make, though he supports
making our driver's licenses more secure."

Lisa Block, a spokeswoman for DPS, was similarly noncommittal on any
estimates.

"We're looking at the (federal) requirements and how we will respond to
those requirements," she said. "We're still formulating the estimates.
.. . . Any numbers we have are estimates. Nothing is finalized."

A Homeland Security representative in Washington said Wednesday that
the change in federal law stemmed from the report of the Sept. 11
commission, which studied the terrorist attacks. Citing the fact that
all but one of the Sept. 11 hijackers had obtained driver's licenses or
other state identity cards, the commission recommended standardizing
all state licenses and improving verification of applicants'
backgrounds.

Van de Putte was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for
comment.

She told the Express-News that she was told the higher costs will stem
from already approved federal regulations that will require DPS to
begin more closely checking driver's license applications . That, she
said, could result in longer lines not only for new applicants but for
those who renew as well.

DPS officials estimated the change will cost Texas about $168 million
the first year and $104 million a year after that, the senator was
quoted as saying.

Texas has about 16 million licensed drivers. Last year the state issued
700,000 new licenses and processed 2.6 million renewals.

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By the numbers:
Driver's license costs

The price of a driver's license in Texas since the first one was issued
in 1935:

1935: 25 cents a year
1942: $3 for two years
1968: $6 for four years, $3 for two years
1974: $7 for four years
1984: $10 for four years
1985: $16 for four years
1998: $24 for six years, $4 per year

Source: Texas Department of Public Safety

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