New Federal ID Rules Very Costly to Texas' Driver's License Bureau

New federal requirements for driver's licenses aimed at tighter security will be very costly to the State of Texas' driver's license bureau. Judy Brown, chief of the Texas Department of Public Safety's driver's license division, predicted at a legislative hearing that the state will need to hire 700 new employees to accommodate the 4 million to 7 million Texans who will have to produce new documents for their driver's licenses.

The Real ID Act of 2005 requires all states to obtain specific identification documents and verify their authenticity before issuing driver's licenses and official state ID cards. It also prohibits states from accepting any foreign documents except a passport, and it requires states to verify that applicants are in the country legally. The project has been estimated to cost about $11 billion nationally.

States must begin implementing the new law by May 2008, and fully implement the program within five years.