BATON ROUGE — The REAL ID deadline is quickly closing in, and Louisiana residents are in a rush to get their driver’s licenses changed over to the new, federally accepted version for flying and other purposes. After Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, the TSA has said it is not delaying the transition any longer.
Starting May 7, those flying must present a REAL ID or other federally acceptable document to the TSA when flying domestically. In addition, a REAL ID is required to access certain federal facilities such as a federal courthouse, military site, or nuclear power plant.
The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 and establishes minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards that can be used for official federal purposes. It was a recommendation from the 9/11 Commission, according to the Department of Homeland Security…