Texas driver's license to jump up to a whopping $100 or more

In article .com>,
wrote:
>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.

So spread out $104 million or $168 million among the 16 million drivers
in a 6-year renewal cycle - that's only a couple dollars per license per
year! (See below for data including a 6-year renewal cycle starting in
1998!)

- Don Klipstein )

>--------------------------------------------------------
>
>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
>
>Find this article at:
>http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...20license.html