Rep. Staneski: Time to Make DMV Work for Us

From CT House Republicans: To address the long wait times and inefficiencies at the state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and to better serve state constituents, State Rep. Pam Staneski (Milford & Orange) has proposed a bill this legislative session to privatize some of the services done by the state agency.

The proposal has been referred to the legislature’s Transportation committee for further consideration and possible public hearing.

“Today I join many of my colleagues and my constituents, who for years, have asked for the legislature to move toward privatizing the Department of Motor Vehicles. We cannot continue to accept 4-hour wait times to do simple tasks like renew a license or register a car,” said Rep. Staneski. “I owe it to my constituents to make sure state government works for them.”

“A 4-hour average wait time to do business with DMV has an economic impact, and just irks people. Let’s fix it, it won’t be easy, but it can be done,” said Rep. Staneski.

The DMV is still struggling to recover from problems that plagued it a few years ago, eroding public confidence in the agency to properly do its job. The department was unable to absorb the tens of thousands of new applicants for drive-only licenses once the legislature had approved a measure for undocumented immigrants to be eligible for them. This resulted in hours-long waits in lines at all DMV offices across the state, despite many services being available online.

Soon after that, all DMV offices across the state closed for over a week to upgrade their computer software, only to roll out a system full of bugs. This resulted in numerous state residents’ motor vehicle registrations being suspended for non-insurance, when in fact they were properly insured. It also caused several motorists to be ticketed and have their vehicles towed when they were actually in compliance with the law.

Rep. Staneski said, “It is abysmal that even after a full computer system done in 2015, with a sole purpose of improving efficiency and shortening wait times, that we see NO CHANGE—the DMV struggles to serve the very people whom they should be accountable to—the taxpayer. This is the 21st century—technology has come a long way, so why have we not seen movement within the DMV?”

Here is Rep. Pam Staneski video outside the DMV. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwdFFn9kf3Y&t=29s

Image, video courtesy of CT House Republicans