The extension means Missourians will be able to use their current forms of identification to fly domestically and enter federal facilities until Oct. 10 of next year.
During the 2017 legislative session, the Missouri General Assembly approved legislation to allow residents to obtain a photo ID that is compliant with the federal REAL ID Act. Because the current version of the Missouri driver’s license is not compliant, DHS announced in January of 2016 that Missourians would not be able to enter federal facilities and would not be able to fly domestically beginning in 2018. The federal government granted an extension to allow Missourians to continue to use their existing IDs for these purposes until January 22, and now the new extension gives Missourians additional months to utilize their existing licenses.
The state will continue to work toward the implementation of the new REAL ID-compliant licenses, and is on track to have them in place by March 2019. The state will have to apply for a second waiver next year in order to cover the gap between October, when the current waiver expires, and March, when the new IDs will be in circulation.
Missouri Receives Good News with Latest Employment Statistics: Missourians can be thankful for continued job growth in the Show-Me State. The Missouri Department of Economic Development recently released numbers for the state’s unemployment rate in October and it was good news for the state. Missouri’s unemployment rate fell to 3.5 percent in October, which is the lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate the state has seen since July 2000. In total for the year, Missouri has seen non-farm payroll employment increase by 30,700 jobs.
Best wishes as we move into the holiday season. I encourage citizens to continue to “Shop and Give Locally” in support of our community businesses and charities. Thank you for the opportunity to serve as your State Representative. Please contact me at patricia.pike@house.mo.gov or 573-751-5388 with any questions or concerns regarding state issues.
