New federal REAL ID requirement deadline delayed — again

Earlier this year, Gov. Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 133, which will allow Pennsylvania to issue REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses and identification cards. These cards can be used to access airline flights and federal facilities.

The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005 and signed into law by former President George W. Bush, required changes to state standards, procedures and requirements for the issuance of driver’s licenses and identification cards, if they are to be accepted as bona fide identity documents by the federal government. The act became necessary as an extra security level after 9/11, congressional sponsors said.

Until the federal government made the standardization the law of the land, each state has had its own system of identification. The 9/11 hijackers got valid ID cards issued by several states, according to the FBI. In the aftermath of 9/11, a committee was formed to make recommendations. One of them encouraged the federal government to come up with national ID standards to help eliminate fraud and terrorism. The regulation requires states to develop licenses with anti-counterfeiting measures and to file photographs and other essential information into a federal database.

In 2011, when the Republican-controlled Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a bill thumbing its nose at the federal Homeland Security Agency’s 2005 REAL-ID initiative, it was hailed as a bold, in-your-face, high-five for states’ rights. The federal government has had the last laugh, however, notifying noncompliant states such as Pennsylvania that if the driver’s licenses are not updated, residents will not be able to use them to board planes or enter federal facilities.

The state was under a REAL ID enforcement extension until Oct. 18, but now it has been extended once again, this time until Oct. 10, 2018, according to an announcement made last week by the governor’s office. The extension means Pennsylvania residents can continue to access federal facilities and board domestic flights until that date using current acceptable ID.

Although Pennsylvania is working on the new IDs, they will not be ready until the spring of 2019. Unless the federal government grants yet another extension next October, Pennsylvanians will need an alternate and approved form of ID, such as a passport, birth certificate, military card or border-crossing card, before entering federal facilities, such as Social Security Administration offices.

As for boarding commercial aircraft, the ID deadline for this part of the law is Oct. 1, 2020, so if the new IDs are ready by the spring of 2019, it will allow ample time for customers to obtain one before the deadline.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will continue to request extensions from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security until REAL ID products are available for residents, according to PennDOT Director Leslie S. Richards.

Under the act signed by Wolf, no Pennsylvania resident will be required to get a REAL-ID-compliant driver’s license or identification card. Residents who choose to opt out will be able to use the alternate forms of ID when the new federal regulations go into effect.

A majority of legislators did not want to force residents to get the new cards, especially if they never intend to fly or go into federal facilities, which is why the option was inserted into the law. It will be costly for the state to make these changes. Some predictions peg the cost at about $300 million to replace the existing licensing system, which includes more than 9 million driver’s licenses and nearly 1.7 million photo ID cards.

Why has it taken PennDOT so long to get moving on this project? It was prohibited by that 2011 act that the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed and former Gov. Tom Corbett signed. The members of the Legislature and Gov. Wolf had to override that prohibition earlier this year before the new legislation could take effect.

Nine states, including Pennsylvania, are noncompliant, but the other eight — Kentucky, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington — are working just as frantically as Pennsylvania is in trying to finish the process by the deadlines.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com