What others say: Delaying the inevitable on REAL ID in Alaska

  • By Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Editorial
  • Monday, October 16, 2017 10:58am
  • Opinion

There will be no escaping the federal REAL ID law if you want to get on to a military installation or travel by means whose access is controlled by the federal Transportation Security Administration.

But Alaskans do, once again, have a little more time to get things in order with the federal security law. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it has given the state an additional compliance grace period through Jan. 22 of next year.

The grace period is a short-term stay while the department considers the state’s request for a full waiver until late 2020, a pivotal year by which Alaskans will have to have a form of REAL ID-compliant identification in order to travel within the country on modes of transportation monitored by the TSA.

The REAL ID Act, approved in 2005, doesn’t actually require states to do anything, by the way. It’s actually a law that applies only to federal agencies, instructing them about the circumstances in which they can accept state driver’s licenses and other forms of state-issued identification. Of course, a state’s residents would be stuck if their state doesn’t provide them with the ability to have a form of identification that comports with the instruction to federal agencies.

Alaska, though, in 2008 passed a law prohibiting the state from spending any funds to comply with the federal law. That would have eventually left residents scrambling to find some other form of identification acceptable to federal agencies. It would have been especially problematic for the occasional traveler or for someone who needs to travel on extremely short notice.

Alaska came up with a nifty, slightly awkward way to meet its residents’ needs.

The Legislature earlier this year approved, and Gov. Bill Walker signed, a bill that requires the state Division of Motor Vehicles to give residents a choice of having a driver’s license or identification card that meets the REAL ID act requirements or one that doesn’t.

Alaskans will have to make a decision that, for some individuals, will be uncomfortable. That’s because legitimate concerns exist about providing too much personal information to the government. There are also concerns about attacks on the computer systems that would house that personal information. How many stories about computer hacks of personal information have been in the news in the past year? Several.

So the choice will be whether to obtain a state driver’s license or ID card that meets federal requirements or to get a non-compliant one and either get some other form of acceptable ID or not travel anywhere you would encounter a TSA agent.

The state hopes to obtain a full waiver of the requirements through October 2020, when all Alaskans will need a compliant state-issued card or other acceptable federal identification for domestic travel in which TSA is involved. The Division of Motor Vehicles will begin issuing REAL ID cards in January 2019.

The REAL ID Act can be confusing and is, to some degree, a controversial law. But understanding how it works and what it means to you is important. You can find out about the REAL ID Act online at https://www.dhs.gov/real-id-public-faqs .

— Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial,

Oct. 11

More in Opinion

Deena Bishop, commissioner of the Department of Education and Early Development, discusses the status of school districts’ finances during a press conference with Gov. Mike Dunleavy at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Opinion: The fight to improve public education has just begun

We owe our children more than what the system is currently offering

President Donald Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia at a joint news conference in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (Doug Mills/The New York Times file photo)
Opinion: Mistaking flattery for respect

Flattery played a role in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill.

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Life is harder when you outlive your support group

Long-time friends are more important than ever to help us cope, to remind us we are not alone and that others feel the same way.

Deven Mitchell is the executive director and chief executive officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. (Photo courtesy of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.)
Opinion: The key to a stronger fund: Diversification

Diversification is a means of stabilizing returns and mitigating risk.

A silver salmon is weighed at Three Bears in Kenai, Alaska. Evelyn McCoy, customer service PIC at Three Bears, looks on. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Opinion: Will coho salmon be the next to disappear in the Kenai River?

Did we not learn anything from the disappearance of the kings from the Kenai River?

Jonathan Flora is a lifelong commercial fisherman and dockworker from Homer, Alaska.
Point of View: Not fishing for favors — Alaskans need basic health care access

We ask our elected officials to oppose this bill that puts our health and livelihoods in danger.

Alex Koplin. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: Public schools do much more than just teach the three Rs

Isn’t it worth spending the money to provide a quality education for each student that enters our schools?

Gov. Mike Dunleavy speaks to reporters at the Alaska State Capitol on Thursday, April 17, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Letter to the Editor: Law enforcement officers helped ensure smooth, secure energy conference

Their visible commitment to public safety allowed attendees to focus fully on collaboration, learning, and the important conversations shaping our path forward.

Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire file photo
The present-day KTOO public broadcasting building, built in 1959 for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Communications System Signal Corps, is located on filled tidelands near Juneau’s subport. Today vehicles on Egan Drive pass by the concrete structure with satellite dishes on the roof that receive signals from NPR, PBS and other sources.
My Turn: Stand for the community radio, not culture war optics

Alaskans are different and we pride ourselves on that. If my vehicle… Continue reading

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) delivers his annual speech to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: Sullivan, Trump and the rule of lawlessness

In September 2023, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan established his own Alaska Federal… Continue reading

UAA Provost Denise Runge photographed outside the Administration and Humanities Building at the University of Alaskas Anchorage. (courtesy photo)
Opinion: UAA’s College of Health — Empowering Alaska’s future, one nurse at a time

At the University of Alaska Anchorage, we understand the health of our… Continue reading

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
Opinion: A noncongressman for Alaska?

It’s right to ask whether Nick Begich is a noncongressman for Alaska.… Continue reading