BOISE -- Idaho lawmakers will need to figure out a plan for getting compliant with the Real ID Act of 2005.
Sen. Bert Brackett, Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said they will have to figure something out before this legislative session ends, otherwise, your current driver's license won't let you board a commercial flight.
"It's an unfunded mandate," said Brackett. "The feeling is still there you know, the resentment, the unfunded mandate, the push back."
In 2008, Idaho lawmakers pushed back against the federal mandate by passing House Bill 606, a measure to exclude Idaho from taking part in the Real ID Act.
But now, lawmakers are being forced to change their tune.
"But the realization is that unless we, you know, we have been getting extensions and we can continue to get extensions, but we have to show some good faith effort that we are attempting to comply or on the road to compliance," explained Brackett.
The Real ID Act was a measure passed after 9/11 to protect your driver's license from being duplicated by terrorists. By now, there are nine states that have not complied, including Idaho.
If your only form of identification is your driver's license, then the Real ID Act prevents you from getting into any nuclear research facility, such as Idaho National Laboratory, a measure that took effect in July of 2014.
Come October of 2015, you won't be able to get into military facilities like Gowen Field without an enhanced driver's license.
However, what impacts residents most is a deadline that will start no later than 2016. That is when residents won't be able to get through the TSA security checkpoint at the Boise Airport without the new modifications on their driver's license or identification card.
But TSA spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said there is no need for those flying to worry, just yet.
"If there were any changes for that you would have ample notice given," Dankers said. "The policies surrounding that are outside of TSA, and if there were any changes to what people need in order to fly, to gain access through the checkpoint, that information would be publicized widely."
Still, Brackett believes legislators will have to address the issue quickly because the cost to implement this is likely to continue to rise.
"We need to do something before the Legislature adjourns, otherwise we will miss this last deadline," he said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security said their agency, as well as those with the Idaho Transportation Department, met with legislative leaders and the governor's office for a review of where Idaho stands with complying with the Real ID Act.
Brigadier General Brad Richy, the Director of the Idaho Bureau of Homeland Security, is meeting the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
The goal is to give the Legislature some time to address the issue to show that Idaho working to comply with the law.
