After years of delays, the deadline to have a Real ID for flying in the U.S. is prepared for takeoff.
Some states are scrambling to make sure everyone has a compliant ID before the May 7 deadline, but some Kentucky lawmakers say the commonwealth isn’t ready and want another extension.
Susan Pratt stood outside the regional driver’s license office in Bowling Green around lunchtime on Tuesday. She was halfway through a line that ran outside the office and into the adjacent parking garage.
“I’ve been here an hour. I’m not even in the door yet and someone said it’s at least another hour from there," explained Pratt. "I wish I had brought a sandwich.”
Pratt has a wedding to attend in Omaha in a few months so she wanted to get a Real ID, but couldn’t get an appointment until June.
“I just assumed it would be in May, but no, June 3," she said. "But I’m retired, so I knew I could do it, but these people have children to pick up, they have jobs, and I worry also for the elderly.”
Starting May 7, a Real ID will be required to fly domestically and enter certain federal buildings and military bases. A Real ID can take many forms, including an upgraded driver’s license, a passport, or military credential.
The Real ID program was approved by Congress in 2005, in an effort to boost security in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In states like Kentucky, a Real ID is optional, and that’s led to a compliance rate so far of only about 35%, according to the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation.
Ahead of the deadline, a last-minute scramble is overwhelming regional driver’s license offices operated by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. To obtain a Real ID, Kentuckians must visit one of the state’s 34 regional centers which are already bogged down processing standard driver’s licenses and renewals.
Deanna Scott of Glasgow doesn’t have a regional office in her home county, so she came to Bowling Green. She sat in line in a red camping chair wearing a brace on her leg.
“I have to have knee replacement surgery, so I’m bone on bone right now from an old injury," Scott said. "I’m in a lot of pain to stand. I have to sit.”
Her license is up for renewal, but she couldn’t get an appointment before it expires this month.
Appointments for all types of licenses, including a Real ID, are hard to come by in some cities, including Owensboro, where a recent online search showed the next available appointment is June 2. June 4 was listed as the next available date for Bowling Green, and June 5 for Lexington.
That’s why some state lawmakers want the federal deadline extended again. Republican Jimmy Higdon of Marion County chairs the state Senate Transportation Committee. He sent a letter this week to Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem asking for a delay in the May 7 deadline.
“There’s a lot of short tempers right now as people wait in long lines and there’s some people that have vented on the personnel at the regional offices and some have quit," explained Higdon. "I would just ask to be kind to these workers. They’re doing the best they can, but Kentucky is simply not ready.”
Higdon’s letter is co-signed by 28 GOP state senators.
In 2022, Kentucky removed driver’s licensing duties from circuit court clerks in all 120 counties and transferred those services to 34 regional centers. As a result, there’s about one-fourth of the driver’s license locations in the state compared to three years ago.
Even before the Real ID deadline approached on the calendar, regional centers were already experiencing long lines and excessive wait times for appointments. Matt Cole, Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Vehicle Regulation, maintains the regional center model is capable of getting the job done.
"They absolutely are working. It's just the demand right now is very high due to some building closures in the winter months, some sicknesses we had," Cole said. "It's put us in a bit of a backlog, but we're adding more resources, more appointments. We're bringing in other teams to help bail out the busier offices.”
Gov. Andy Beshear blames the backlog on the state’s new vision screening requirement, but regardless, he says there’s room for improvement.
“I will say I’m not satisfied with how our driver’s license offices are operating. I’m trying to work directly with the Transportation Cabinet to get it fixed," Beshear said during a recent media briefing. "I recognize there’s a problem and I don’t want people to have to wait as long as they are.”
A bill signed into law this year allows third-party groups to renew driver’s licenses, which its sponsor, Rep. Kevin Jackson of Bowling Green, says could alleviate some of the strain on regional offices.
"In some states, it’s a AAA office, it’s an insurance office, other businesses, even government agencies would be allowed if approved by the transportation cabinet," Jackson explained during a legislative committee meeting earlier this year.
That law, however, doesn’t take effect until after the May 7 Real ID deadline.
A bill that didn't make it out of the General Assembly this year would make standard driver’s licenses available once again in circuit court clerk’s offices. The sponsor is planning to reintroduce the measure next session.
For now, with limited appointments, late adopters of Real ID could be grounded. That’s unless there’s yet another extension.
