This column originally ran in the Owatonna People’s Press.
Ongoing fiasco in state’s system for licensing vehicles
On January 4, the Senate Transportation Committee held a second hearing to investigate the ongoing fiasco of Minnesota’s new system for licensing vehicles, also known as MNLARS. At a hearing in November, MNLARS officials told us they were on track to fix the problems beleaguering the system, but at our most recent hearing it became clear they simply do not know how.
This is deeply distressing. MNLARS has been plagued with problems since it was unveiled last summer – problems such as delays, long waits, slow performance, cumbersome workarounds, incorrect fees and taxes, system outages, and the inability to process even the most basic of transactions.
As vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, I have been watching MNLARS developments closely and keeping in constant communication with people who are being impacted by its flaws.
In November I wrote the system was not up to the standards we should expect. After the most recent hearing, I can report little has changed. I was disappointed by the testimony from officials from the Department of Public Safety and MNIT, and by their lack of any real plan of action. While there have been some modest improvements, we did not hear anything in terms of real solutions to get MNLARS back on track. At one point, the committee specifically asked for a timeline for solving the numerous problems MNLARS is facing. The only answer we received was an evasive comment about a “roadmap” they hoped to release at the end of January.
We asked for a plan on how they planned to test the system. We were told they do not have an answer.
In November, we were told there were 300,000 titles in backlog. According to recent data from the Department of Public Safety, there are still 319,000 titles unprocessed — an increase from the information we received at the last hearing.
I have written before that perhaps the biggest lesson to be learned from the MNLARS debacle is that government is not the best solution for every project. In this case, we should seriously question if it is the role of government to be in the software development business – particularly when there are private companies who can do it much more effectively and efficiently than government.
I am sorry to say committee testimony did not restore my faith in the project. After 10 years, $90 million, compounding problems, and hours of testimony, I have very little confidence that either the Department of Public Safety or Minnesota IT services have the ability to get MNLARS turned around.
In addition to the flood of complaints, I am often asked if the legislature has a plan to fix MNLARS. Frustratingly, there is little the legislature can do – this is a problem at an independent state agency where the legislature has no jurisdiction. What I can – and will – do is continue drawing as much attention as possible to MNLARS’ numerous flaws, shine a light on the mismanagement, and hold hearings to demand answers. We will continue to put pressure on those responsible until every problem related to MNLARS is taken care of.