Despite receiving an extension from the Department of Homeland Security to comply with REAL ID laws, it’s unclear what might happen to Montana citizens come 2016 when their state-issued driver’s licenses may not be an acceptable form of identification to board a commercial flight.
State officials, including Gov. Steve Bullock and Attorney General Tim Fox, say regardless of what the federal government does over the next few years, the state of Montana will not comply with federal regulations created after 9/11 that they believe are overreaching and violate citizens’ privacy. The federal rules would standardize driver’s licenses across the country and require that states maintain databases with information the federal government can access.
“Montanans have said loud and clear that they will not comply with REAL ID,” Bullock said earlier this year. “For us, REAL ID raises serious concerns about the extensive collection of their personal and private information by the federal government.”
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the REAL ID Act of 2005 established certain standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to ensure that they are secure. The act also required federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration, to decline state IDs if they don’t meet federal standards by a certain date. Phase one of that timeline was implemented earlier this year when restricted areas at DHS headquarters in Washington D.C. became off-limits to anyone with a non-compliant ID. In July, those restrictions were expanded again to restricted areas at nuclear power plants and other federal facilities.
The biggest impact will occur in 2016, when someone with a non-compliant card will need a second form of identification to board a commercial flight.
In 2007, Montana’s Legislature voted against the implementation of REAL ID in the state because it believed the new regulations violated the state’s rights. In a letter to the head of DHS earlier this year, Bullock also argued that Montana has taken steps to make the state driver’s licenses more secure. Among those improvements were maintaining a secure Department of Motor Vehicles database; the verification of a citizen’s lawful status before issuing a license; the addition of security features in the driver’s license; and prohibiting people from having more than one ID.
Officials with DHS agreed with Bullock that progress had been made and in July it gave Montana an extension to meet the REAL ID rules. The extension means that federal officials would still accept Montana licenses until October 2015. However, the letter from DHS to Bullock also said that eventually the state would have to comply.
John Barnes, a spokesperson with Attorney General Fox’s office, said it’s unclear what will happen in the future if the federal government doesn’t grant Montana another exemption or extension. He said that Montana officials would continue to resist the regulations, adding “the next move is up to them.”
“We hope that federal officials come to their senses before then and recognize that a Montana’s driver’s license is secure,” Barnes said.
Montana his not the only state to resist the REAL ID regulations. According to DHS, Alaska, Arizona, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma and Washington have all failed to comply with the REAL ID rules on the federal government’s timeline.