By Rachel E. Stassen-Berger

St. Paul Pioneer Press

A measure to allow Minnesotans to get driver’s licenses that comply with federal Real ID standards will get its first hearing in the Minnesota Senate on Tuesday.

But unlike the House version, the Senate bill will not address the issue of driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants. That issue, among others, has caused controversy as the House measure went through committees. Sen. Eric Pratt, the chief sponsor of the Senate version, said he plans to move the measure without the immigration-related House provision.

“What I’m concerned about is, if we were to just start striking rules without statutory upgrades, that we would become a mecca for fraud and identity theft,” the Prior Lake Republican said. “The second piece is … really immigration and Real ID should be two separate conversations so this is recognizing that and trying to get bipartisan support.”

The federal government has said that by 2020 only driver’s licenses from states that have complied with the Real ID standards, which include some extra security checks, will be accepted for federal uses. Those purposes include passing through airport security and gaining entry to military bases.

Minnesota is one of the few states yet to move toward adopting the Real ID standards.
—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.