Federal Real ID Act of 2005 – Missouri House of Representatives Newsroom

What Missourians need to know about the latest on Real ID

Missourians can keep using state licenses at federal facilities and airports through October 10, but it could be up to two years before Real ID compliant Missouri IDs are available under a law effective next month.

Representative Kevin Corlew (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

The federal Real ID Act was passed after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Missouri in 2009 adopted a law barring compliance with that Act based on concerns about citizens’ privacy because the Act required them to produce source documents to be stored electronically.

The federal government granted an extension giving the state through October to comply with the Real ID Act. Governor Eric Greitens (R) signed into law last month a bill that would give those Missourians who want Real ID compliant licenses the option of getting one.

The bill’s sponsor, Kansas City Republican Kevin Corlew, said Missouri will continue seeking federal extensions until everything is in place to make compliant IDs available. He said in considering further extensions the Department of Homeland Security will look for evidence that Missouri is moving toward compliance, and the beginning of implementation of House Bill 151 will provide that.

“We’ll be able to show DHS what the Department of Revenue is doing and the steps that they’re taking to move towards compliance,” said Corlew.

Missouri will need to seek another waiver by January, or at that time current Missouri licenses would not be accepted to get through federal security.

Eventually Missourians who want or need to be able to get through federal security will have to have Real ID compliant licenses. HB 151 lets those Missourians get such IDs. Those who don’t need them won’t have to go through the Act’s more stringent proof-of-identity requirements if they don’t want to.

Corlew said it’s not clear how soon compliant Missouri licenses will be available.

“We don’t have an exact timeline but we’re in the neighborhood of about 12 months, probably, from August 28 when [HB 151] goes into effect,” said Corlew. “Department of Revenue has said even up to two years but I’m hopeful that they’ll be able to roll that out in about a year, but until then we’ll keep seeking the waivers and extensions to make sure that Missouri drivers licenses, as they currently exist, will be proper identification.”

Corlew said there’s nothing Missourians need to do or be concerned about right now, but said those with further questions should contact their local representative or senator, or the Department of Revenue.

Legislature passes Real ID legislation as session’s end nears

The state House has voted to send to Governor Eric Greitens (R) a bill that would let Missourians choose whether to get an ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. Compliant licenses are needed to do things like board airplanes and enter military bases and federal buildings.

Real ID was passed in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2009 Missouri adopted a law barring compliance, citing concerns over citizens’ privacy because the Act required citizens to produce source documents that would then be stored electronically. After January 2018, however, those who lack compliant IDs will not be able to get through federal security such as at airports and federal courthouses.

The sponsor of House Bill 151, Kevin Corlew (R-Kansas City), said the bill gives Missourians an option.

“We’ve heard from our citizens from our military bases, from our businesses, from people who travel and fly, from people who access military bases to visit their loved ones or to go to the grave sites or those who do business on them, they’ve requested that we provide this as an option so they can use their Missouri driver’s license. They don’t have to get a national identification in the form of a passport. Instead they can use their state-issued identification to access these, but also recognizing … there are some who would say I want my regular old Missouri driver’s license. I don’t need the Real ID compliant, don’t want my source documents stored, whatever it be, then they have the freedom to choose the other one,” said Corlew.

Many lawmakers said the issue was the one they felt the most pressure from the public to solve.

Representative Charlie Davis (R-Webb City) told Corlew, “You would think that this year being such a tough budget year the number one number of emails I would’ve got was from the budget … 12 emails. Real ID? 327 emails from my constituents, not from people across the state of Missouri.”

Corlew said the bill calls for the storage of documents required by Real ID to be done on a system that is not connected to the internet, making them more difficult to access.

“You know the scene from Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise dropping down [on a wire]? I would think that’s what you would need to get it,” said Corlew.

Representative Rick Brattin (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Still the measure faced some opposition from lawmakers who remain concerned about the privacy of citizens. Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) told Corlew that when the Jay Nixon Administration was learned to have shared information on Missouri concealed carry permit holders with the federal government, the internet was not involved.

“They scanned and had a disc made,” said Brattin. “It’s still capable to have that scanned and sent off, so the problem that we already faced and encountered in the State of Missouri occurred and can still occur with this sort of system.”

Corlew said that is why the Senate put tougher provisions in the bill for punishing those who violate the privacy of those documents.

“The first of which is up to a year in prison under a Class-A misdemeanor and then it goes up from there with substantial jailtime for felonies,” said Corlew.

Still, the legislation passed 112-39 with broad bipartisan support. It’s now up to Governor Greitens whether it will become law.

Missouri House proposes giving Missourians choice of whether to get Real ID-compliant licenses

The state House has proposed a bill that would allow Missourians to choose whether to get a state ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005, so they can use it to do things like enter military bases and board planes.

Representative Kevin Corlew said House Bill 151 will give Missourians a choice on whether to get a state-issued ID that complies with the federal Real ID Act of 2005. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

House Bill 151 is sponsored by Representative Kevin Corlew (R-Kansas City), who called it a compromise, allowing Missourians to keep non-compliant IDs if they wish. His Republican caucus was divided over the legislation, though, with some saying the Real ID Act threatens individuals’ privacy and personal information.

The Act was passed as part of the federal government’s response to the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. In 2009 the Missouri legislature and then-Governor Jay Nixon (D), citing privacy concerns, adopted a law barring the state from issuing compliant IDs. After January 2018, however, those without non-compliant IDs will not be able to get through airport security, and some federal facilities already enforce such a restriction.

It is that deadline that prompted Corlew’s legislation.

“We need to allow our citizens to choose a Real ID-compliant license so that they’ll be able to get on an airplane to fly across the United States or to fly to another state without having to go to the expense and time and burden of getting a passport, or passport card, or producing additional identification,” said Corlew. “We need to be able to do that so that our businesses who service our military basis, also our family members who have military families throughout the country, that they can go and visit their loved ones, to see their graduations, to be a part of those ceremonies.”

Representative Steve Lynch’s (R-Waynesville) district includes Fort Leonard Wood, which quit accepting non-compliant IDs last year. He said he has seen, as much as anyone in the House, how the issue is impacting Missourians.

“Everywhere I go, every weekend, I run across people that stop me and tell me we need to fix this issue. People are angry. They are frustrated,” said Lynch.

Opponents of the bill include Representative Robert Ross (R-Yukon), who called the choice proponents say the bill presents a “total joke.”

Representative Robert Ross was one of 35 Republicans that voted against the Real ID bill. (photo; Tim Bommel, Missouri House Communications)

Ross said the state is being “coerced” to adopt Real ID compliance by being told, “Your citizens are not going to be able to fly, they’re not going to be able to step onto a nuclear facility, we’re not going to let you into a military installation – which is completely false too. If you’ve got a Missouri ID and a social security card, birth certificate, any other piece of identification, you can go in.”

Representative Rick Brattin (R-Harrisonville) said he is concerned the personal documents and information used to get a compliant ID will land in a government database.

“Everybody may think that this is a black helicopter mentality, but I do not think that this sort of information on a database, especially when it becomes completely nationwide, in the hands of a government, will ever be used for good,” said Brattin.

Others, like Representative Kevin Engler (R-Farmington), said voting against HB 151 would be denying constituents the ability to get a state-issued ID they can use to exercise their rights.

“I would suggest this: If you look up and you see a ceiling, vote ‘Yes.’ If you look up and you see what might be the bottom of an alien spacecraft that’s coming down, and will beam us up to probe us, then vote, ‘No,’” said Engler.

The bill was passed with bipartisan support, 99-40, and now goes to the state Senate.