The Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee held a hearing on November 15 to gather testimony and investigate the disastrous 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 recordkeeping functions.

Senator John Jasinski (R-Faribault), vice chair of the Transportation Committee, issued the following statement:

“Anyone who has tried to register a vehicle or renew a driver’s license in the past few months has likely experienced the headaches associated with MNLARS. I’ve heard from my share of constituents about their experiences, but today’s oversight hearing illustrated for us just how widespread the problems with the system are.

“The testimony was damning. After $90 million and nearly a decade of development, there are 300,000 vehicle titles in backlog – roughly 60 times the amount that are processed on a typical day. There was no implementation schedule and no pilot testing. And four months after a rollout that never should have happened, the problems are not getting better.

“This is unacceptable. MNLARS is quickly turning into the new MNsure. The public doesn’t just deserve answers; they deserve a detailed plan from the governor’s administration to fix every problem MNLARS is having. I will keep pressing the Department of Public Safety and MN.IT to clean up their mess.”