BILLINGS – Travel professionals are reminding their customers that Montana’s state-issued driver’s licenses will no longer be accepted as a valid form of identification for commercial flights next year.
The Billings Gazette reports that beginning Jan. 22, passengers must produce a passport or some other form of identification that complies with Real ID, a 2005 law that sought to boost security by mandating nationwide standards for identification.
For more than a decade, Montana politicians of all stripes have criticized Real ID as a federal overreach and a potential invitation to identity theft.
The Department of Homeland Security has granted Montana two extensions for compliance. But after the second expired last year, Gov. Steve Bullock sent a letter urging federal officials to suspend implementation of Real ID.
Meanwhile, Montana’s two U.S. senators have introduced legislation to repeal Real ID.