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Boston's Morning Newsletter
The REAL ID deadline is one month away. Here's what to remember
Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from WBUR's daily morning newsletter, WBUR Today. If you like what you read and want it in your inbox, sign up here.
Update: Ahead of the May 7 deadline, the RMV is now accepting REAL ID walk-ins for people who urgently need to upgrade their license. You can learn more here.
It's been a rainy, news-packed weekend. We've got photos from Saturday's massive "Hands Off Democracy!" protest in Boston. But first, here's an important reminder:
What's in your wallet? The deadline to get a REAL ID in Massachusetts is only one month away. If you prefer to use a license instead of your passport when traveling domestic, you'll need a REAL ID starting May 7. You'll also need it to enter federal buildings.
- By the numbers: According to the Registry of Motor Vehicles, more than 3 million Massachusetts residents already have a REAL ID. (That's about 56% of the ID-carrying population.) There will be an inevitable rush to close the gap as the deadline nears, which means if you haven't got one yet, there could be a wait for an appointment.
- How long will it take? It takes around 10-14 days for you to receive your REAL ID from the date of your appointment. The RMV suggests booking a REAL ID appointment at least three weeks before your travel in order to make sure you've got the proper identification to board.
- Comparing costs: You can use a passport as identification if you don't have REAL ID. But a U.S. passport book will run you $130, while changing to REAL ID will cost you less than half that price — $25 to upgrade an unexpired license or Mass ID, and $50 to renew your non-commercial standard license.
Low confidence: A new survey from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts found that business confidence among employers statewide is at its lowest level since July 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The low confidence is fueled, in part, by job cuts and slashes to research funding by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, survey participants wrote. " But clearly, the thing that's driving the loss of confidence most of all are the tariffs," Christopher Geehern, executive vice president of AIM, told WBUR's Fausto Menard.
- The local impact: Geehern says AIM's 3,400 members are concerned, particularly small- to medium-sized business owners that depend on foreign markets for growth. "We have a member who imports pieces of machinery, and has several hundred thousand Euros worth of machinery on boats heading for the United States," said Geehern. "So if you figure a 20% tariff on that, which didn't exist at the time the pieces were shipped, that's a huge bite for a company. Do they pass it along? Do they swallow it? All those things are in play."
- Let's make a deal: Bui Thanh Son, deputy prime minister of Vietnam, asked the U.S. government to delay the tariffs on goods from his country. The U.S. is Vietnam's biggest export market, and the 46% tariff is one of the highest rates the U.S. has imposed on a foreign trade partner. Son says he'd like to negotiate a deal that would benefit both countries.
- Products on pause: The British maker of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles has paused its product shipments to the U.S. while it "works to address new trading terms." Automotive industry expert David Bailey tells NPR he believes more foreign automakers will announce similar stoppages soon.
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In memoriam: Massachusetts is remembering former state Health and Human Services Secretary Philip Johnston, who died this past weekend at the age of 80. Johnston, a Democrat who served under former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, helped draft a state law that guaranteed shelter for homeless families with children in 1983.
- Earlier this year, Johnston said he understood the state's shelter system would need to tighten its belt in order to function better, but still believed in the importance of helping those in need. "This is a state that's been very compassionate towards poor people over the years," Johnston said. "And we wanna make sure that continues."
Heads up: Starting today, electric vehicle owners in Worcester will have to pay if they want to use the city's public chargers. Up until this month, it had been free to charge your EV in Worcester (the city had been covering the cost to the tune of $55,000 per year). Now, drivers must pay $0.30 per kilowatt hour to charge up — still less than an equivalent amount of gasoline. The change is meant to offset the municipal cost of operating and maintaining the chargers, according to a press release from Worcester City Council.
P.S. — We're in the thick of spring — though it may not feel like it — and our planet could use a little help getting ready for new growth. Give your environment a refresh at these Massachusetts cleanup efforts featured in our Weekender newsletter.
