If you have travel plans for 2016, and your primary form of identification is your Minnesota driver’s license, there’s a chance you won’t be going anywhere.

The deadline is closing for Minnesota to meet the standards of the Real ID Act, a federal law adopted in 2005 in a response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The law requires a federally compliant ID card for air travel “no later than 2016.” If you don’t have such a card, a secondary form of ID, such as an enhanced driver’s license or a passport, will be needed to board flights.

Minnesota offers the option of an enhanced driver’s license that meets the Real ID requirement, but it costs an additional $15, and only 7,048 Minnesotans have one, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. Meanwhile, just 37 percent of Americans have valid passports, according to the Bureau of Consular Affairs.

If we don’t meet the Real ID standards, we’ll have a lot of frustrated travelers at our airports next year.

We’re not alone. Minnesota is just one of four states — the others are Louisiana, New Hampshire and New York — not in compliance with Real ID. Some states, such as Wisconsin, offer residents a choice between an older-style license and a federally compliant license.

Minnesota has been especially assertive in balking at the Real ID requirement. In 2010, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law that was signed by Gov. Tim Pawlenty that banned the state from taking any action to adopt Real ID. At the time, lawmakers from both parties joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and privacy activists in opposing what they called an intrusive “de facto internal passport.”

Minnesota and the other three states are negotiating with the Department of Homeland Security ahead of the January deadline. While they’re counting on the Homeland Security relaxing the deadline, why should it? The Real ID Act passed 10 years ago. Moreover, if 46 other states have complied with the Real ID requirements, the remaining four outliers have little, if any, leverage to negotiate an extension.

Gov. Mark Dayton said he spoke with Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson earlier this month, offering assurances that the state is working toward meeting the Real ID deadline. Dayton might call for a special session to overturn the 2010 state law because the Legislature isn’t scheduled to convene until March.

“To simply close our eyes and not take any action, not even consider having a discussion or debate around these issues, is playing a very interesting game of chicken with the federal government,” said Sen. Scott Dibble, chair of the Senate Transportation and Public Safety Committee.

The game has gone on too long. While we would hope Minnesota legislators would face reality and repeal the 2010 law to put us in compliance with the Real ID Act, we’re jaded enough to know they’re likely to put off the decision even longer. Their privacy concerns are noted, but it’s a concession we have to make in a post-Sept. 11 world.

Meanwhile, we encourage you to take matters into your own hands and obtain an enhanced driver’s license or make sure you have a valid passport. The process takes several weeks, so start now.

Otherwise, you’ll be stranded at the airport.

 

— Rochester Post Bulletin, Sept. 28