Maine REAL ID compliance bill signed into law
Gov. Paul LePage has signed a bill that will bring Maine into compliance with the federal REAL ID Act.
The governor signed the bill on Friday. Maine was one of a handful of states not in compliance with the federal law.“As we work on this process, we have been reassured Maine will be extended a waiver to allow residents to continue using non-compliant ID cards beyond January 2018,” LePage said in a statement.
Had lawmakers not passed the bill, Maine residents would not have been able to use driver’s licenses to board flights beginning next year.
Maine driver’s licenses were already being rejected when residents sought to gain access to certain federal facilities.
The bill requires the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to use facial recognition technology and to scan documents, such has birth certificates, when Mainers apply for an ID.