Feds deny Montana request to delay driver's license law

HELENA — Montana residents won’t be allowed to use their driver’s licenses to access military bases, nuclear power plants and federal facilities starting Jan. 30, and they’ll need another form of identification to board commercial aircraft a year after that, federal officials said Tuesday.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent Montana Gov. Steve Bullock a letter rejecting the governor’s request to delay implementation of the federal Real ID Act of 2005.

The state previously received two one-year extensions, but won’t get a third. There is no evidence that Montana will commit to meeting the requirements of the federal law passed to prevent terrorism and identity theft, assistant secretaries Alan Bersin and Philip McNamara wrote.

The officials pointed to a 2007 law passed by the Montana Legislature that said the state would not comply with the Real ID Act.

Read more: http://www.havredailynews.com/story/2016/11/23/local/feds-deny-montana-request-to-delay-drivers-license-law/511364.html