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Gov. Rick Scott is on the prowl for new ways to reduce the cost and size of government.
He has a group patrolling for duplication in law enforcement. He wants agencies to scrutinize their budgets.
And he helped create a Government Efficiency Task Force of 15 business leaders and legislators, who will suggest cuts in state spending by up to $3 billion.
Your input is welcome at floridaefficiency.com.
Now, see what you think of this cost-cutting idea:
Issue Floridians a single ID card that would hold several kinds of vital information: your driver's license, car insurance, health insurance and voter registration.
Good idea?
Yes, says Julie Jones, executive director of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, who briefed Scott and Cabinet members on the plan in one-on-one meetings.
"This was my attempt to want to save money and create a product that's convenient for our customers," Jones said. "An individual has to carry three or four types of identification just to exist in Florida society.
"I've discussed it with all four of my bosses, and no one has pushed back with a no. But it's in an exploratory phase. … It may not go anywhere."
Not anytime soon.
For one thing, the vendor that manufactures Florida driver's licenses has four years remaining on its contract.
And Jones says Texas studied the idea for a long time before deciding against it.
How much would a one-size-fits-all ID save? Too soon to know, Jones said.
How much would it cost taxpayers? Nothing, Jones says, beyond what people already pay for a driver's license, which costs $48 and is valid for eight years. That's her goal.
Jones has begun shopping the concept to other agencies, and Secretary of State Kurt Browning, Florida's chief elections official, is concerned.
First of all, not everybody who drives a car is registered to vote, Browning notes, and not everyone who votes has a driver's license.
Second, because motorists' driving histories are legally available to certain private firms (but not for marketing purposes), there will be a debate over making more of that information easier to get.
Third, if a voter who doesn't drive is forced to pay for an ID card, that's certain to raise constitutional issues of a poll tax in disguise.
"If Highway Safety is going to be the one issuing this ID, there's going to be a fee associated with producing the ID. You can't be penalizing folks that don't have the resources to pay for this ID and thus won't be able to vote," Browning says.
Simply put, voting is free.
"It's a great idea in some regards, but I'm not sure it's practical in the area of voting," Browning says.
State law does not mandate that a voter produce a driver's license. Several types of photo ID are allowed.
Still, Browning is cool to the idea of using a driver's license as the universal form of ID.
If that's a problem, Jones says, then maybe the card won't have voter information on it.
"We'll build the card around what we think we can accomplish," Jones says. "We have to look at technology in the future as opposed to what we do today."
Steve Bousquet can be reached at bousquet@sptimes.com or (850) 224-7263.
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