COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Senate on Thursday called on Governor Mark Sanford to request an extension of compliance to the Federal REAL ID Act from the Department of Homeland Security. The Senate voted 28 to 7 to concur with a House resolution, which calls on the governor to request the extension that must be submitted by Monday, March 31, 2008.

“What we did today was to put the Senate on record in support of an extension,” says Senator Larry Martin (R-Pickens). “We in no way have any intent of changing our state law that says we reject REAL ID as a policy, but we do need the extension to further review what the federal government has done with the regulations. They have greatly revised them and a lot of that has come about as a result of our policy.”

The issue is whether or not the federal government will recognize South Carolina’s driver license and state issued identification cards as valid forms of ID. The Department of Homeland Security has said that after May 11, 2008, forms of identification issued by states that have not complied with the REAL ID Act or have not requested an extension to the deadline will not be recognized.

This means that currently, South Carolina residents who have a valid South Carolina driver's license or identification card will not be able to use that license or card as identification to board a commercial aircraft or enter a federal facility.

“This was an effort to not inconvenience South Carolinians by requesting the deadline extension and keep our citizens from waiting in long lines at airports,” says Martin.

Residents will not be prohibited from boarding commercial planes after the May 11 deadline, but could be subject to additional security checks at the airport.

The Department of Motor Vehicles has indicated that South Carolina has complied with 16 of the 18 requirements the Department of Homeland Security has set for REAL ID.

The nonbinding resolution passed today now goes to the governor’s office, where he must decide whether or not to request the extension.

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