Three months from today, a Louisiana resident may need a passport just to hop on a domestic flight.  No, Louisiana isn't seceding, but the state may not be in compliance with the federal "Real I-D" act by then.

The federal law originally wanted states to embed tracking devices in drivers' licenses, according to Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Stephen Campbell.  That part was scrapped, but Campbell says he's not sure the state will hit other benchmarks.

"Louisiana as a result of modernization efforts, computer changes and all that will have the vast majority of the requirements in place, with a couple of notable exceptions," Campbell said.

For example, he said, "one of the most difficult things for us to do by January the 15th is have a system in place that takes a photograph of a person at the front of the process to issue a driver's's license or an I-D card."

Campbell says there are more than a dozen other states similarly behind the curve.  He says that makes him hopeful the feds will make exceptions or push back the deadline.