Sen. Dennis Nolan, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, listens to testimony during a joint meeting of the Senate and Assembly transportation committees Tuesday in Carson City. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers who head up the Legislature's two transportation committees said Tuesday they intend to introduce a joint resolution asking Congress to scrap its Real ID Act, set to take effect in May 2008.

The act, which would require Nevadans to make an appearance at a DMV office to prove who they are to obtain a new driver's license, will cost the state about $66 million over four years to implement, according to state officials.

It also is expected to create long lines at DMV offices as all motorists visit the agency when their licenses expire to show proof of identity.

There is no federal funding for the act that officials are aware of, agency Director Ginny Lewis said at a joint meeting of the Assembly Transportation and Senate Transportation and Homeland Security committees.

Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the Senate panel, said Congress should look instead at working within the existing Department of Motor Vehicles processes to issue new identification.

Any resolution passed by the Nevada Legislature would add to a growing chorus of opposition nationally, but would have no force on Congress to change or scrap the Real ID program.

"The resolution is going to ask them to scrap it and go back to work," Nolan said. "And it will ask that it be restructured so it can work within the current licensing process for the state."

There is also the possibility of asking that the program rely on identification such as passports as a method of proof of identity, Nolan said. A passport is not envisioned currently as being a document that will satisfy proof of citizenship under the act.

Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, said the resolution is in the preliminary stages of discussion.

"I definitely see us doing something like that, letting our delegation know we're serious about it," he said.

Atkinson, chairman of the Assembly Transportation Committee, said the state's efforts over the years to reduce lines at the DMV will be set back years with the Real ID Act.

"We're talking about a million plus of our residents having to go to the DMV," he said.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has requested $30 million in his proposed budget to implement the Real ID Act over the coming two years. The money would allow the state to hire 196 additional DMV employees and keep key offices open as long as 12 hours per day. The average wait time at a DMV in Nevada last year was 56 minutes.

One state has gone further than a simple nonbinding resolution. The Maine Legislature voted last month not to implement the act.

The additional documentation to acquire a driver's license was required by the anti-terrorism act passed in 2005.

Congress has insisted the act is not a federal mandate. But if states don't comply, their residents will not be able to board an airplane, enter a federal building or apply for federal entitlements such as Social Security.

In a briefing on the program in late 2006, Lewis said every resident will have to gather up documents they probably haven't seen in years, including immigration documents, birth certificates and Social Security cards, and take them to the DMV, where they will have to be verified.

A coalition of national government groups estimates the cost to all the states will total more than $11 billion and double the wait times for those seeking the new licenses.

A draft of the rules on the Real ID Act that is expected by March will make it clear exactly what states will need to do to comply.