Senate approves resolution on Real ID

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“We’ve spent a lot of time on a resolution that will accomplish nothing. It’s an attempt to micromanage the governor’s office.”

— Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, on a resolution the Senate passed urging Gov. Mark Sanford to comply with federal Homeland Security standards on S.C. driver’s licenses and state-issued identification cards

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

News from campaigns competing in June’s primary

Witherspoon files for U.S. Senate. Lexington dentist Buddy Witherspoon filed Thursday to challenge U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham in the Republican primary.

Witherspoon, who announced his candidacy in January, made his bid to unseat Graham official Thursday. He is the first of four announced challengers to Graham to pay his filing fee for a spot on the ballot.

Witherspoon said he is running because Graham has lost touch with the conservative base of the Republican Party. A major issue Witherspoon disagrees with Graham on is Graham’s support of an immigration plan that would have provided millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.

Graham, who is completing his first term in the U.S. Senate, has raised $4 million.

CAPITOL CONNECTION

• Senate approves resolution on Real ID

After more than an hour of debate Thursday, the Senate passed a resolution calling on Gov. Mark Sanford to apply for an extension on complying with the federal Real ID law.

The nonbinding request matches a similar measure the House passed last week.

South Carolina has until March 31 to seek an extension, good until Dec. 2009, for meeting new federal guidelines aimed at producing a more secure state driver’s license.

If the state does not request the extension, access to federal buildings and boarding air planes could become more tedious for South Carolina residents after May 11.

South Carolina is one of four states that have not complied with the new requirements.

The Legislature passed a law last year prohibiting the state from doing so, citing the cost involved.

Meanwhile, Sanford and five other members of the National Governors Association participated in a conference call Thursday with Homeland Security director Michael Chertoff to discuss aspects of the Real ID law.

Arranged by Homeland Security, the call was billed by a department spokesperson as “part of moving toward compliance” and did not end the impasse between Sanford and the federal government.

“We still haven’t determined whether we’re going to ask for the extension,” said Joel Sawyer, Sanford’s spokesman.

4-K PROGRAM

A Senate panel approved a pay-as-you-go plan Thursday to extend the state’s 4-year-old kindergarten pilot program for at-risk children statewide in the 2008-2009 school year.

The bill, taken up by the K-12 budget subcommittee, moves on to the full committee for discussion next week.

The Senate plan is to fund 4-year-old kindergarten under the Child Development Education Pilot Program first at the same level as the House’s plan, about $4,000 per child. Then the state would use any remaining funds to extend the program to as many of the state’s financially needy children as possible, according to Sen. Harvey Peeler, subcommittee chairman.

Expanding 4-year-old kindergarten is the Legislature’s answer to a lawsuit brought against the state by poor, rural districts claiming they have not gotten adequate help.

Two years ago, a judge ruled the state had done enough to provide modern buildings and qualified teachers. But the judge determined the state had not done enough in providing early childhood education to prepare students for success in schools.

Contributing: Staff writer Roddie Burris