Towards the end of 2015, it was announced that Illinois and Missouri licenses would no longer comply with federal security guidelines set down in 2005 by the Department of Homeland Security. A few weeks later, it was announced that we could still use the current IDs for air travel through 2018, but that was it. All IDs must become Real ID compliant. Then in May, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced that they would start rolling out the new Real ID drivers licenses in June.

The ball is rolling on new drivers licenses. Just this past Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed the new ID act into law, and we Illinoisans can start upgrading our drivers licenses to more DHS compliant ones by the end of July. Fortunately we have over 18 months to upgrade, so if you're not up for renewal just yet, or have no reason to get a new license (name or address change), there's no need to rush on down to the Secretary of State's office right away.

As for Missouri... the last update on the Show Me State's progress was that it was still being discussed. Hopefully they'll have this worked out by the end of the year?

More From KICK FM, #1 For New Country