Driver's Licensing and Registration

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NCSL tracks a wide range of state and federal issues related to drivers licensing and motor vehicle registration.

Key state issues include:

• Graduated and enhanced drivers licenses
• Motor vehicle registration and title fees and renewals
• Penalties for improper registration
• License plates, including specialty or personalized plates
• Driving with a suspended or revoked license

In addition, NCSL closely tracks and advocates before the federal government concerning REAL ID. The “Real ID Act of 2005” establishes prescriptive standards for state issued driver’s licenses in order for them to be accepted for federal purposes (boarding a commercial aircraft and gaining access to federal buildings and nuclear power plants).

The Department of Homeland Security estimated state implementation costs at $3.9 billion. To date, Congress has provided only $221.4 million.

More information about REAL ID—including state-by-state breakdowns of federal grant awards for 2009, 2010 and 2011—is available online, as is NCSL’s state-federal policy on REAL ID for 2011-12. NCSL continues to urge Congress and the administration to collaboratively develop solutions that recognize national security but do not impede the sovereignty of state licenses.

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Updated June 2012