Real ID rule delayed by Homeland Security due to pandemic

Residents across Pennsylvania — and across the country — will have another year to obtain a Real ID driver’s license or ID card.

The Department of Homeland Security announced late Thursday that it won’t enforce the requirement for the new card — which is designed to be harder to duplicate — until Oct. 1, 2021, because of the COVID-19 virus emergency. The deadline had been Oct. 1 this year, but Pennsylvania and the National Governors Association asked for the deadline to be pushed back because driver’s license centers that process Real ID requests are closed because of the virus.

The new card is voluntary, but a Real ID or a valid passport will be needed to get through airport security or enter many federal buildings once enforcement

begins. Congress mandated the new cards in 2005 in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but many states delayed implementation until Homeland Security set a deadline.

“We are very pleased that the Department of Homeland Security has listened to our concerns, as well as the concerns from our fellow states regarding the need for a postponement on Real ID enforcement in the midst of this national emergency,” said Yassmin Gramian, acting secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Pennsylvania has issued about 700,000 new cards so far — just over half of the 1.3 million residents expected to want one.

James Nash, a spokesman for the National Governors Association, said the group was happy with the decision.

“Governors support the intent and purpose of the Real ID Act, but an extension will allow all of us to focus our efforts on combating the spread and severity of COVID-19,” he said. “As governors lead the responses to this publichealth emergency in their states and territories, they appreciate the administration’s willingness to listen and act on their bipartisan concerns about the Real ID deadline.”

Not everyone was pleased with the decision. The U.S. Travel Association wanted a longer delay.

“The already difficult task of bringing the country closer to REAL ID compliance is now clearly impossible due to the coronavirus crisis,” President and CEO Roger Dow wrote in a news release. “Over the next 18 months people will be focused on building their lives back, not going to the [Department of Motor Vehicles].

“The economic damage of coronavirus is already massive, and as we move toward a recovery phase it would be awful if the REAL ID deadline hits and creates yet another obstacle to people traveling.”