Sanford's Real ID decision expected Monday

Gov. Mark Sanford will announce his decision on the pending REAL ID extension deadline on Monday at 11 a.m. The announcement will take place in the governor's office at the South Carolina Statehouse.

REAL ID is the replacement for driver's licenses and identification cards mandated by Congress to increase security at the nation's airports and federal buildings.

Sanford has until Monday to ask for an extension to the federal deadline to begin issuing the new cards. Without the extension, current South Carolina driver's licenses would no longer be considered valid identification to fly or enter federal buildings, beginning May 11. State residents trying to catch a flight would need to show a passport or be required to go through a secondary screening process.

With the extension, the state has until Jan. 1, 2010 to start issuing the new cards.

In 2005, Congress mandated that all states put new security measures in place for issuing new driver's licenses or identification cards, but South Carolina is one of about 30 states that have opposed it.

But as of Friday, only South Carolina and Maine had not been granted extensions to the deadline for issuing the new cards.

Sanford has argued that issuing the cards breaks the state's law that doesn't allow it to conform to the REAL ID standard. He also says that it will be a burden on state residents by forcing residents to bring more documents with them to renew a license, increase Department of Motor Vehicle wait times and increase costs.

Lawmakers have urged Sanford to ask for the extension, which would give them more time to fight the implementation of the cards.