Airlines back effort for Pa. driver's license compliance with REAL ID program

Don’t have a passport?

Some airline executives are now involved in the push to ensure you can still board a plane without one.

A dozen airline executives, FedEX and UPS all signed a letter backing an effort by Pennsylvania state officials to bring state driver’s licenses into compliance,

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If the efforts fail, starting on Jan. 22, 2018, Pennsylvanians will no longer be able to board a commercial plane using their license. They also won’t be able to enter federal facilities or nuclear power plants.

Pennsylvania licenses do not meet REAL ID Act standards. The law was enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, in an effort to prevent terrorism and fraud.

Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalf supported the legislation in Pennsylvania that barred the state from joining REAL ID. The program requires drivers applying for a license to show two forms of proof of residency, such as a utility bill, a property tax statement or a voter registration card, as well as a birth certificate with a raised seal. That information is kept in a federal database.

Metcalf, a Republican, said the program is not only an inconvenience, but it would cost Pennsylvania more than $300 million to implement it.

Rep. Kim Ward, a Democrat, sponsored a bill that would repeal the 2012 law that prohibited state participation in the REAL ID program. It was approved in March, but is now in a state Senate government committee,

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• US warns Pennsylvania about repercussions over Real ID law

Cox Media Group