A Rough Road to REAL ID

The new year has come and gone, and residents in the nation’s 50 states, its territories and commonwealths still can use their state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to board commercial aircraft, enter nuclear power plants and gain access to federal buildings. This is despite the fact that the federal REAL ID Act of 2005 and its implementing regulations required state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to meet certain federal standards by Dec. 31, 2009. On Dec. 18, 2009, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano reported that, since at least 46 of the 56 U.S. licensing jurisdictions would not meet the Dec. 31, 2009, “material compliance” deadline, it would be waived.