Federal officials grant ‘grace period’ for REAL ID
Air travel restrictions set to begin Jan. 22
Residents of Pennsylvania and 29 other states will not face restrictions on travel and entry into federal buildings because of a lack of a REAL ID card at least until Jan. 22, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced Wednesday.
The federal Department of Homeland Security has granted a “grace period” for enforcement, which was scheduled to begin Wednesday. Without the grace period, Pennsylvania residents would have been unable to enter most federal buildings without a passport. Restrictions on air travel still are scheduled to begin Jan. 22.
Pennsylvania had applied for an extension on compliance in September, but hasn’t received an answer yet.
Congress mandated the new cards to replace driver’s licenses and state ID cards more than 10 years ago after the 9/11 terrorist attacks because they are harder to forge, but Pennsylvania was among a handful of states to resist because of the cost and the concern that they amount to a federal ID card. The Legislature passed a law forbidding the state to comply, but under pressure from the Department of Homeland Security that those without the new cards couldn’t pass airport security or enter most federal buildings unless they have a passport, officials revoked that law in June.
PennDOT is in the process of developing a plan to establish separate centers for residents to get the new cards.
The state Department of Transportation expects to spend $24 million to $30 million over the next 18 months to establish five to eight centers and could retrofit five current driver’s license centers to process REAL ID paperwork. The first new cards are expected to be issued in spring 2019 and about 25 percent of the state’s 10.6 million residents with driver’s licenses or state-issued ID cards are expected to want them.
In an August report, the agency estimated operating costs the first year at $26.3 million to $28.5 million and $17 million to $20 million a year thereafter.