Kalamazoo County has postponed a decision on whether to pursue a countywide ID program. That’s so the task force that’s been studying the idea has time to do more research on how the program would work.
Members of the task force say they’ve got a good start, but they still need to answer some questions before they make a report to commissioners.
Board member Tracy Hall says even without the details, many in the community have voices support for a county-wide ID. Hall says school districts, businesses and two major hospitals are for it, as are the City of Kalamazoo, the City of Portage and Kalamazoo Township.
Commissioner Kevin Wordelman says the he’s impressed with the work the task force has done so far.
“If this group of people got together and recommended that I jump off a bridge I’d probably think about it because this is a lot of really good people working on this,” he said.
At the county's regular meeting, a number of residents made comments in support of a county identification program. One person spoke against it.
Advocates for local IDs say they help people who lack the paperwork for a state ID to access a range of essential services, from banking to health care. In Michigan, the City of Detroit and Washtenaw County have local ID programs.
Kalamazoo’s task force is expected to report back within a few months.
