Dear Neighbor,
Just a quick note regarding something you may have seen on the news: The Department of Homeland Security rejected Minnesota's request for an extension to meet federal REAL ID requirements with our standard state IDs.
The main thing travelers should know is this will not affect their flight plans for the time being. Minnesotans still can use their standard driver's license in order to board a domestic flight.
Homeland Security will provide 120 days' notice of when the new ID requirements go live, meaning the earliest they could take effect is late April. That means the Legislature could address this issue when the 2016 session begins in St. Paul.
As I noted in a recent update, regardless of what action is or is not taken at the state level to bring our state IDs into compliance with new federal regulations, enhanced Minnesota IDs already available (for $15 more than a standard one) meet REAL ID regulations.
Information on obtaining enhanced IDs is at this link. Also, here is a link to that previous update I sent with a whole lot more background and other information on this subject.
Merry Christmas,
Paul