Its back. Minnesota Senate has a plan to revive Real ID

Senate leaders think they’ve struck a deal to revive a defeated measure to bring Minnesota into compliance with federal Real ID standards.

Three weeks ago, the Republican-controlled Senate rejected a bill to make the state’s driver’s licenses compatible with federal requirements that will go into effect next year. All the Senate’s Democrats and five of the Senate’s Republicans voted against the measure. The final vote was 29-38.

One of the biggest issues for many Democrats was not about the federal driver’s license security standards but the tangentially related question of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. DFL Gov. Mark Dayton would like the Real ID bill to grant him the rule-making authority to implement them but said he would sign a Real ID bill without that. The House Republican Real ID bill contains explicit language barring licenses for undocumented immigrants. The Senate’s language was in between the two, but Democrats still felt it went too far in preventing the future issuance of undocumented immigrant driver’s licenses.

But now, after a suggestion from Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, and Sen. Ann Rest, DFL-New Hope, the Senate is planning to vote for a new bill.

Read more: http://www.twincities.com/2017/03/24/its-back-minnesota-senate-has-a-plan-to-revive-real-id/