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Oregon Driver's Licenses Still Don't Meet Federal Security Standards

<p>In 2009, Oregon lawmakers prohibited the Oregon DMV from complying with the REAL ID Act unless federal funding paid for the higher security standards.</p>

In 2009, Oregon lawmakers prohibited the Oregon DMV from complying with the REAL ID Act unless federal funding paid for the higher security standards.

Oregon was given an extension last year to bring its driver's licenses up to federal security standards. That extension expired Tuesday, but the state isn’t worried.

Back in 2009, Oregon lawmakers decided not to comply with the REAL ID Act unless federal funds paid for it.

That standoff has lasted eight years now.

But David House with the Oregon DMV says a bill in Salem would allow Oregonians to pay $20 extra for a new federally accepted license, so they can board planes and get into federal facilities.

"But even if this bill doesn’t pass through the Legislature … there’s no immediate affect, we won’t see the enforcement at the airports for example until 2018," he said. House added, “We’ve requested another extension for a few more months from Homeland Security."

Washington has an extension through the middle of next month.

Twenty-five states are now compliant with the new requirement.

Copyright 2017 Oregon Public Broadcasting

Kristian Foden-Vencil is a veteran journalist/producer working for Oregon Public Broadcasting. He started as a cub reporter for newspapers in London, England in 1988. Then in 1991 he moved to Oregon and started freelancing. His work has appeared in publications as varied as The Oregonian, the BBC, the Salem Statesman Journal, Willamette Week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, NPR and the Voice of America. Kristian has won awards from the Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors. He was embedded with the Oregon National Guard in Iraq in 2004 and now specializes in business, law, health and politics.