Gov. Scott Walker’s administration wants to stamp “voting purposes only” on the free IDs the state makes available, making it harder for people to use them to open bank accounts or prove their identity when they pick up their children from day care. The Division of Motor Vehicles also wants the free IDs – born of voter fraud fears – to be cheapened in quality, with some fraud protections removed. State officials believe the changes would prompt more people to pay for IDs that can be used more widely, thus increasing transportation funding by nearly $1 million over two years. “I don’t think the elderly and low-income people who don’t drive should be the state’s target for boosting revenue for transportation spending,” said Jon Peacock, research director for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.
He said the proposal would create confusion because the state would begin issuing two types of IDs – ones that could be used only for voting and ones that could be used more broadly – as well as driver’s licenses. “Do state lawmakers want a pharmacist to tell my 80-year-old uncle that he can’t get his heart medication because he has the wrong kind of ID?” Peacock asked.
The voter ID law Walker signed in 2011 required people to show photo ID at the polls, but also made state IDs free to those who said they needed them for voting purposes.
The result: Very few people pay the $28 fee for state IDs these days, according to budget documents.
Full Article: Under plan, free IDs would be for voting only.