David Garrett Jr.

Vermont will begin issuing REAL IDs on Jan. 1, 2014, Fox44 reported on Thursday. The licenses and IDs will show compliance with a gold star to the right of the ID number.

The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License announced in February that Vermont joined 18 other states in becoming REAL ID compliant.

At the time, the organization's president, Brian Zimmer, said: "The country is safer today because more than a third of all states are compliant with the 39 individual rules that are essentially security standards. Taken together, 30% of the adult population will soon be carrying a genuinely secure driver's license. In addition to meeting the 9/11 Commission recommendations regarding secure standards for reliable identity documents, this progress will help to reduce fraud wherever proof of identity is a key to state or federal benefits."

"We and virtually every other state have been moving forward in becoming REAL ID compliant," Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Robert Ide told Fox44.

More here: http://www.examiner.com/article/vermont-to-issue-real-ids-2014