The Minnesota Senate today approved new legislation aimed at fixing the state’s driver’s license testing process and improving wait times for Minnesotans needing to take their driver’s test. The bill, Senate File 3226, allows private, third-party testers to become certified to administer behind-the-wheel driver’s examinations.

“This is an incredibly important and necessary bill that will fix a growing problem facing our state,” said Sen. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester). “Teenagers and parents in Rochester and many communities in southeastern Minnesota and all across our state have been held up in getting their license by the long-standing backlog of people waiting to take a driver’s test. Existing delays, combined with tests cancelled during the COVID pandemic, have led to a projected backlog of 111,500 tests by December. Last year, we passed a similar third-party option for testing bus drivers and it was been very successful. Expanding this option to class D drivers will cut down the backlog and is just plain common sense. This bill will help every single family with teenagers who have completed their driving courses and need to take the test.”

The bill allows private behind-the-wheel instructors to be certified by the State of Minnesota to administer Class D driving tests. The Department of Public Safety would develop a uniform standard on which students are tested, approve acceptable testing routes, and audit third party testers, if necessary, to ensure the program’s integrity. The bill comes following a troubling investigation by KARE 11 last year, which found students of certain driving schools were given preference for taking driver’s tests while other students resorted to camping outside testing centers to secure a spot in line. In many cases, appointments had to be scheduled months in advance and at locations nowhere near the student’s residence.