TULSA — Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005, but Oklahoma still has yet to issue licenses or identification cards that are compliant with that law.
October 10th, another deadline passed for the state to bring itself into accordance with Real ID, but as things stand today it appears unlikely that will happen before roughly 2020.
Randy Rogers, Legislative Liaison with the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, tells KRMG the good news is that latest deadline came with a grace period, which doesn’t expire until January 22nd, 2018.
So Oklahomans will still be able to board airplanes or enter secure federal facilities, such as military bases, using a state driver’s license or ID as proof of identity.
Between now and January 22nd, Rogers said, it’s expected that the Department of Homeland Security will issue Oklahoma another extension, because the state has shown it is in the process of becoming compliant with the law.
State lawmakers passed a bill in February of this year directing the DPS to issue Real ID compliant licenses to Oklahomans, while giving citizens the option to get non-compliant identification cards or driver’s licenses instead.
That moves comes 10 years after the legislature passed a bill expressly forbidding the state to comply with the Real ID Act.
Because Oklahoma has dragged its feet so long, federal funds that were available to help the state with the transition are no longer available.