The Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing Wednesday to gather testimony and investigate the troublesome rollout of the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS), the new Department of Public Safety program for processing driver’s licenses, driver compliance, vehicle titles and registration, dealer licensing and inspections, and inventory and record keeping functions.

Senator Paul Utke (R-Park Rapids) issued the following statement:

“Over the past few months I and other members of the legislature have heard countless stories from Minnesotans experiencing terrible difficulties as they’ve tried to register a vehicle or renew a driver’s license as a result of the new MNLAR system.  Wednesday’s hearing only further illustrated how disastrous the system’s rollout has gone, shining a light on the fact that neither the Department of Public Safety nor Minnesota IT Services have developed an immediate solution to the problem.”

 “We cannot allow MNLARS to become that state’s new MNsure. After over $90 million in investment and nearly a decade of development, there is no excuse for the level of backlog that we see now. Minnesotans deserve solutions now, so I call upon Dayton’s administration and officials from the Department of Public Safety to develop a step by step plan that will allow us to make MNLARS fully functional for the residents of our state.”