(AP) – Drivers are experiencing longer wait times as the state processes thousands of pending requests for identification cards that comply with the federal REAL ID Act.
According to transportation department administrator Tom Loftin says there 13,225 people in Wyoming who will have their ID’s by the end of the year. More than 400,000 have been issued so far.
Department resources have been shifted to address wait times.
Wyoming approved a law in 2009 to comply with the REAL ID Act, which Congress passed in 2005 based on the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation for identification standards.
The Department of Homeland Security is evaluating the three phases of the act that have been rolled out so far. Identification requirements for boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft are expected no sooner than 2016.
