States urged to comply with ID rule

WASHINGTON -- Millions of residents of three states will soon face tougher and longer screening at airport checkpoints if their governors defy a federal law requiring new, more-secure driver's licenses.

Maine, New Hampshire and South Carolina have until March 31 to say whether they plan to comply with the law, which they say is costly and will inconvenience residents by forcing them to get new licenses.

If the states don't comply, the Homeland Security Department will bar travelers from using those state's licenses and ID cards to board airplanes starting May 11.

"We are not bluffing," department spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said.

Some fear massive confusion and delays at the 15 airports in the three states. Passengers showing unacceptable licenses will be pulled aside for additional screening, possibly including pat-downs.

"It would create havoc," said Harrison Rearden of the Columbia Metropolitan Airport board in South Carolina's capital.

The Homeland Security Department warns on its website that passengers with unacceptable licenses "may experience delays" at checkpoints. Travelers with passports or military IDs will avoid the extra screening. Thirty percent of Americans have passports, the State Department says.

Homeland Security officials are in discussions with governors of the three states, Kudwa said. Each of the states enacted a law last year barring it from complying with the 2005 federal Real ID Act. That law set a May 11 deadline for states to issue tamper-resistant licenses that require proof of citizenship and address. The department pushed back the deadline and for now requires states only to seek an extension by March 31.

Maine Gov. John Baldacci has received thousands of e-mails urging him to defy the law, spokesman David Farmer said. But a Feb. 29 letter from Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, warns that not seeking an extension would cause residents "exponential increases in wait times for airport security screening."

"We have not requested an extension but we haven't ruled it out," Farmer said.