DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) &045; In the name of homeland security, motorists are going to see costs skyrocket for driver’s licenses and motor vehicle offices forced to operate like local branches of the FBI, the nation’s governors warn.

The new federal law squeezed this spring into an $82 billion spending bill had Republican and Democrat governors fuming at their summer meeting here, and vowing to bring their complaints to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at a Monday meeting.

&uot;It’s outrageous to pass this off on the states,&uot; said Republican Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, incoming chairman of the National Governors Association. &uot;You’re essentially asking the front-line clerks at the DMV to become an INS agent and a law enforcement agent.&uot;

The law that passed in June goes beyond an earlier law that sought to standardize state driver’s licenses, requiring that states verify license applicants are American citizens or legal residents.

&uot;This is going to drive the cost of driver’s licenses for ordinary folks through the roof,&uot; said Democrat Tom Vilsack of Iowa. &uot;I think it’s going to drive people crazy.&uot;

The law would demand skills of motor vehicle office clerks far beyond what is currently expected, governors said.

Democrat Bill Richardson of New Mexico said the law, known as the REAL ID Act, unconstitutionally infringed upon state laws such as his, where illegal immigrants have been able to get licenses.

New Mexico’s approach made roads safer since licensed immigrants could get insured, helped the state keep track of immigrants, and also helped integrate immigrants into the community, he said.

&uot;It’s a shortsighted, ill-conceived initiative,&uot; Richardson said. &uot;We’ll challenge it constitutionally.&uot;

On Sunday, governors said they’d agreed on a months-long bipartisan proposal to improve the federal-state Medicaid program. They said it should help slow the program’s soaring costs, and let states experiment with more effective ways to deliver health care.

If accepted in Washington, the governors’ plan would allow states to demand co-payments from poor, disabled and women with children, and add tools to curb seniors from giving relatives their assets so they could get Medicaid-funded long-term care.