Gov. Bill Walker has introduced legislation to ensure Alaskans can fly without a passport in 2018.
House Bill 74, proposed by the governor Monday and referred to the House State Affairs Committee, calls for the state’s driver’s licenses to comply with the terms of the federal REAL ID Act.
That act, passed four years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, was intended to increase the security of state identification cards, but some states objected to the bill, protesting that it was a backdoor method to create a federal ID program.
Alaska was one of the objecting states. In 2008, the Alaska Legislature prohibited the state from spending any money on new IDs that abide by the federal act.
As a result, Alaska has been required to repeatedly request (and receive) waivers from the federal government. In 2016, the state was informed that it would receive no more extensions.
If the Alaska Legislature does not pass HB 74 (or its Senate counterpart, Senate Bill 34), Alaska driver’s licenses will no longer be acceptable photo ID to board a commercial flight or access a U.S. military base. Passengers will be forced to use a passport or federal ID card.
According to estimates from the Alaska Department of Administration ─ which includes the Department of Motor Vehicles ─ HB 74 would cost $1.5 million to implement in the coming fiscal year, then $529,000 operating costs in each of the two following years.
No hearing has been scheduled on either version of the bill.
