(Editor's Note: This story has been updated to clarify the timeline on need for a REAL ID.)
As the Transportation Security Administration moves closer to rejecting driver's licenses as a valid form of identification for air travel, Massachusetts residents' current IDs will still be accepted through October of this year.
But after Oct. 10, Bay Staters could need a REAL ID card to board an international flight. Or they can show a U.S. passport.
Massachusetts is working to comply with federal standards established in the REAL ID Act of 2005, which incorporated secure license measures initially recommended in the bipartisan 9/11 Commission Report. Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation last year on Beacon Hill that would give the Registry of Motor Vehicles authority to issue IDs that meet the new requirements. The House bill is expected to be taken up during the 2016-17 legislative session.
Massachusetts is among 22 states and Puerto Rico to be given an extension to meet the mandate until Oct. 10, 2016. Massachusetts officials said they will apply for another extension to October 2017.
To date, 23 states - and only Connecticut in New England - have complied with the REAL ID program. New Hampshire has until June 1 to comply.
Four states - Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington - have not received an extension for 2016 and will be subject to federal enforcement, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security website.
The REAL ID Act established minimum standards that states must follow to issue or produce driver's licenses that can be used as credentials for federal identification purposes.
The valid IDs are required to access federal facilities, enter nuclear-power plants, and as of this year, board airplanes.Amanda DeGroff, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, said the following timeline is in effect:
After Jan. 22, 2018, air passengers will need a REAL ID-compliant license to travel internationally. They may travel domestically with either a REAL ID, if their state has issued one, or other acceptable identification if the state has not.
Starting Oct. 1, 2020, every air traveler will need a REAL ID-compliant license, or another acceptable form of identification, to fly.
On Oct. 14, Baker filed House Bill 3814, which would permit the issuance of REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses and ID cards through the RMV. The new ID must contain three levels of integrated security features and information on the holder, including full legal name, date of birth, gender, a unique ID number, photograph, home address, signature, issue and expiration dates, and state of issuance.
Amanda Skahan, deputy press secretary for the state Department of Transportation, said the bill "provides customer choice to current Massachusetts license and ID card holders and enhances the first-time application process for other residents."
"Absent any changes in federal law or regulations, Massachusetts will continue to work toward REAL ID compliance to mitigate any inconvenience to our residents," Skahan told The Sun in an email.
Skahan said full compliance in Massachusetts is expected by fall 2017, provided the legislation moves forward "in a timely manner."
Judith Riley of MassDOT said a REAL ID initially must be issued in an RMV office, but renewals can be done at AAA or online. Renewal and duplicate fees will apply.
"(Massachusetts ID holders) may continue to renew their existing credential, which will not be acceptable for federal identification once the RMV begins issuing REAL IDs, or they may visit a branch to apply for a REAL ID by supplying the required source identification documentation," Riley said in an email. "Once the RMV begins the issuance of REAL ID credentials, each individual customer will have a choice to make. A customer may seek a REAL ID at any time or the customer may wait until they are up for renewal and then apply for a REAL ID."
Several states and civil-liberties organizations have raised concerns about residents' privacy issues as a result of implementing REAL ID.
Christopher Ott, communications director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, said his organization opposes REAL ID.
"It's just been fraught with problems, including a lot of problems that raise privacy concerns," Ott told The Sun. He said the IDs would create a "national database" of all ID holders, including personal information like home addresses and Social Security numbers, which could be accessed anywhere from airports to bars with ID scanners.
"It's hard to imagine a database that would have more types of information on people in one place than this proposed REAL ID database," Ott said.
But Skahan said concerns about privacy are unfounded.
"Passage of Gov. Baker's bill for Massachusetts to achieve REAL ID compliance should not raise privacy concerns due to existing federal and state statutes that protect and limit the access to personal information contained in motor-vehicle records," she said.
Skahan said there is presently a Commercial Driver License Information System that allows states to share information about commercial drivers as they change states of licensure. She said there have been no recorded complaints about the misuse of information.
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