Our View: ID upgrade good idea

In the past – at least up until the Intelligence Reform and Prevention Act of 2004 – only about one of four Americans had a passport.

That’s clearly changing, so much so that the federal government can’t keep up with the requests. Last summer, for example, the State Department confessed to being unprepared for the demand, mainly from citizens whose travel plans involved Canada and who had long been accustomed to a reasonably convenient, passport-free crossing.

Even in Seattle, where the passport office is known for its efficiency, the backlog of applications exceeded 100,000.

The reason for all this frenzy, which is experienced most acutely in states along the Canadian border, is the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a component of the 2004 law mentioned above. That measure required passports for travel to and from several neighboring countries, such as Canada and Mexico, where they hadn’t been needed before.

Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire and other state leaders were quick to respond to the complications the requirements would pose for constituents. She pushed for and received federal OK for an enhanced driver’s license that would be recognized as proof of citizenship. Beginning next month, authorities will accept it for land travel across the border.

Now an Idaho lawmaker, Rep. George Eskridge, R-Dover, wants his state to follow Gregoire’s lead.

It’s a smart if somewhat tardy move, given the daily nature of the cross-border relationship so many Idahoans share with British Columbians. “We’ve got friends and relatives across the border,” Eskridge told The Spokesman-Review’s Betsy Z. Russell.

Indeed, in Washington and Idaho – as well as other northern tier states stretching farther east – U.S. and Canadian citizens routinely travel back and forth for social, recreational, commercial and other reasons. To restrict that is to have an adverse effect on the region’s economy and quality of life.

Passports already are required for air travel between Canada and the United States, and the requirement was meant to apply to crossings by land and sea long ago. But complications (such as the federal government’s inability to keep up with demand) and frustrations led to repeated delays.

At present, the State Department and Department of Homeland Security expect the final requirements to take effect next summer, but a federal Web site still cautions: “The implementation date will be determined based on a number of factors, including the progress of actions undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security to implement the WHTI requirements and the availability of WHTI compliant documents on both sides of the border.”

Officials promise 60 days notice before cracking down.

In Washington, however, an alternative will be in place for those who want to pay an extra $15 for their driver’s license – a bargain compared with $97 for a passport, or more if it’s needed in a hurry.

Eskridge’s colleagues in Boise should act to make sure Idahoans enjoy the same benefit.