And in the end, it all was about politics.
As those of you who read this blog regularly know, a few months ago it looked like those citizens of those states that hadn't complied with the federal government's "Real ID" act would no longer be able to use their drivers licenses as ID at security line checkpoints. Those states (and territories) are: Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington, and American Samoa.
But this weekend, at the NY Times Travel Show, I had the honor of interviewing Brenda Sprague, an officer of the State Department who told me that the deadline has been extended. Despite all of the huffing and puffing on Capitol Hill in the last two weeks about tightening airport security, common sense has prevailed. The new deadline for compliance with the federal law is January 22, 2018. Let's hope the errant states get their acts together by then!
For background on issues surrounding the act and its implementation, click here.
