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Posted on 06/24/2008 4:49:56 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Madison, WI - If you're irked by long waits at the Division of Motor Vehicles, brace yourself.
Things could get worse.
The state Department of Transportation is asking legislators to approve a funding package today that includes $3.7 million to remodel DMV service centers — much of it to go toward expanding the waiting areas of four centers.
Also included in the package is $1.4 million to install or upgrade take-a-number systems at 33 centers because drivers will soon have to make two trips from the waiting area to the service counter.
In all, the department is asking lawmakers to release nearly $20 million so it can implement the federal Real ID law, an anti-terrorism measure meant to make driver’s licenses more secure.
Patrick Fernan, operations manager for the DMV, said the changes the department is requesting — including hiring 26 more counter workers — will ensure wait times don’t get any worse.
Two-thirds of customers at the busiest DMV centers had to wait less than 20 minutes last week, Fernan said.
But to keep wait times at their current levels, lawmakers would need to approve hiring even more workers next year because the department expects that 800,000 drivers will have to renew their licenses before they expire to get Real ID-compliant IDs.
Real IDs will be needed to board airplanes or enter federal courthouses starting in 2014. Wisconsin plans to start issuing them next year.
U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) pushed the law through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a way to combat terrorism. State officials from around the country have protested that the law will cost billions of dollars nationwide and create long lines.
Legislators agreed to raise the fee for a driver’s license by $10 starting last January to pay for complying with the federal law, pushing the cost of a three-year license to $28 and an eight-year renewal to $34.
But legislators said they would not release the money the new fee generated to the DOT until the agency put together its plan for meeting the requirements of the law. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee will consider releasing the funds today.
Rep. Pedro Colón (D-Milwaukee), a committee member long opposed to Real ID, said it was “wishful thinking” by the DOT to believe it could keep wait times at current levels.
“The more you require the DOT to verify all this information, you’re really asking it to be the State Department,” he said. “And we don’t have the money to be the State Department.”
Just how much the federal law could cost Wisconsin is starting to become clear. The DOT maintains it needs about $20 million through mid-2009 to buy computer scanners; expand service centers and improve their security; beef up the take-a-number system, hire more workers; create a Web-based reservation system to help curb wait times; and buy three mobile service centers that can visit the State Fair, Green Bay Packers games, and other places where large numbers of people gather.
All service centers need increased security under the federal law. Four of them — Greendale, West Bend, Waukesha and Onalaska — would get larger waiting areas to accommodate an influx of visitors.
From start to finish, the process of getting a license will be changed under the federal law. Drivers will have their photos taken when they arrive at the center, even if they don’t qualify for a license.
That change necessitates upgrading the take-a-number system the department has, Fernan said. People will have their number called, get their picture taken and then return to the waiting area. Their number will be called again so they can present documents and complete their transaction.
Applicants will have to present birth certificates, Social Security numbers, and proof of legal presence in the United States — even if they have had Wisconsin licenses for years. Workers will have to scan the applicants’ documents and verify that they are valid.
People won’t walk away with licenses at the end of their transactions, as they do now. Instead, they will get paper certificates saying they are licensed to drive; their actual licenses will be mailed to them.
People who have not turned 50 by December 2014 will need to get the new licenses by then. People 50 and over will need the new licenses by December 2017.
About 800,000 people who will need the new licenses by 2014 currently have licenses that expire after that — meaning they would have to come back to the DMV before their current license expires if they want to travel by plane.
People born on Nov. 30, 1964, or earlier are not expected to have to renew their licenses early because they will be 50 by Dec. 1, 2014.
Under the department’s plan, people who have to renew their licenses early would be able to make appointments with the DMV over the Web. If successful, the online reservation system would be made available to others, Fernan said.
The federal government announced last week that Wisconsin would get a grant of $871,000 to help pay its Real ID costs.
You might look at what Daniels did here in Indiana. I don’t know how he did it, but trips to the DMV is a hundred percent better than it used to be.
A passport should work just as well.
Works out perfectly for me. I’ll need a new license in 2017.
Perfect excuse for getting out of federal jury duty. Sorry, your security wouldn't let me into the courthouse!
I HATE to do this, but to be fair - I must.
Here in Kalifornicate, we can conduct a lot of our DMV business at our neighborhood AAA office...quickly and efficiently.
For those tasks that MUST be done at the DVM — we can make an APPOINTMENT on line, at the DMV office of our choice, the day of our choice and the time of day of our choice...
I have used the appointment system several times — and was directed to the “desk” I needed PRECISELY at the scheduled time — bypassing all those poor smucks waiting in line for hours....
Several times — title transfer, Permit renewal, get Pink Slip duplicate, etc, etc........can be completed from entry to exit within 10 minutes on average!
Take a good look at these Dems,, are they with us or against us, which side are they on?
“Take a good look at these Dems,, are they with us or against us, which side are they on?”
Interesting question. It wasn’t long ago that proposing a federal ID card would be an anathema to anyone on these forums. Here’s a blast from the past
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/586627/posts
Take a good look at US. Are we with US, or against US? Which side are WE on?
Barbara freakin Streisand! That's over $42k per office. What the heck do the systems do, reach out and tap you on the shoulder??? All for "now service number 2?" Anybody suggesting such a procurement should be tarred and feathered then run out of town on a rail.
Well I don’t believe it should cost $42k but since it is a government contract it probably does. In California the DMV’s have some kind of thing (not sure if it is tied into their computers) that when they are done with one person they hit something and an auto announcer calls the next number and tells them which window to go to.
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed freepmail me or post a message here.
I don’t appreciate the concept of driver licenses anyway, so I guess I’ll just drive anyway and not ask for their surveillance, just like I did from 1961 until I turned 16 and was for some reason proud to go ask for a license in 1968.
People won’t walk away with licenses at the end of their transactions, as they do now. Instead, they will get paper certificates saying they are licensed to drive; their actual licenses will be mailed to them.
The weakness in the system is the human element. What happens if the license gets lost in the mail? What happens if the official documents are in fact fraudulent (really good fakes) that the DMV employee is unable to verify as such?
Some one is going to crack the system. And, at the same time, the temptation for the Federal government or the States to use such a massive database for potentially nefarious purposes, or even simply allowing third parties to access records, for a fee, is much too great.
Here is the plan to make the National ID card, and other peasant-management technologies, acceptable to the masses:
Step 1 — Open the borders to let the criminals and terrorists in.
Step 2 — Treat all people inside the border as criminals and terrorists. They will welcome it.
Step 2 — Treat all people inside the border as criminals and terrorists. They will welcome it.
Now that you have explained it , I feel so silly that I thought the government could just keep treating me like crap at the old price .
Ever try going to the Washington County DMV? 60-90 minutes to transfer a title, or get new plates.
agreed
Yep! It's hard to believe FreeRepublic was once a conservative forum, isn't it?
Real Americans should skip the card and just get a chip installed in their head. Those people would be “true” Americans.
You got that right.
I’ve seen a shift, and I’ve only been here 4 years. Wow.
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