It is a fact universally acknowledged that the Dayton Administration's roll-out of the MNLARs IT system for registering vehicles is a disaster.
Unfortunately, the refusal on Thursday by House Republican to shift $10 million to keep IT professionals working on the fix has drawn a reprimand to Minnesota House Transportation Finance Committee Chair Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, by the New Ulm Journal, the daily newspaper published in Torkelson's district.
Session Daily reported about the floor discussion No emergency funds for MNLARS, threatening progress on struggling system.
On Monday, the New Ulm Journal editors wrote in MNLARS mess:
We have agreed that tossing another $43 million into the effort to fix the Minnesota License and Registration System (MNLARS) shouldn’t be undertaken without the assurance that it will actually fix the problem. But the Minnesota House’s refusal last week to approve an immediate $10 million to keep the repair process working isn’t going to do anything but slow down the process and punish the people trying to get their cars registered.
Rep. Paul Torkelson (R-Hanska), the chairman of the House Transportation Committee is making this as a political ploy. The House refused the $10 million on a party line vote, with the Republicans voting against it. This, said Torkelson, will increase the pressure on Gov. Mark Dayton and the administration to fix MNLARS. He’s still into assigning blame.
People who just want to get their license tabs and vehicle titles aren’t that interested in assigning blame. They just want the system to work.
Bringing the process of repairing the system to a grinding halt over who’s to blame isn’t fixing the problem, just making it worse.
The state government — Legislature and Administration — are responsible for fixing this mess. We wish they’d get started.
If you want to understand the editors' frustration, watch the House debate on Thursday's session:
The Journal editors aren't alone in their opinion. At the Austin Daily News, the editors share the opinion of the Minneapolis Star Tribune in Fix Minnesota’s vehicle license and registration system:
With an election certificate comes a shared responsibility to make government work. Gov. Mark Dayton was slow to live up to that responsibility last August when it became clear that the new Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) for motor vehicles was performing poorly.
But Dayton changed his tune a few months later. He apologized and vowed to correct the flawed new system. Since then, his administration has moved aggressively, installing new leadership, hiring outside help and issuing a total of 101 amendments to MNLARS software. As a result, a backlog of 380,000 vehicle registrations in November has been cut nearly in half. More improvements are needed and more are planned, with 32 priorities identified for action in the next six to eight months.
Now it’s time for the Legislature’s Republican majorities to shoulder their share of responsibility. Finishing the MNLARS job requires a spending authorization that only the Legislature can provide. The Dayton administration says MNLARS needs an additional $43 million, including a shift of $10 million originally appropriated for other driver and vehicle services purposes.
The $10 million shift is needed ASAP, the administration says. A funding gap of even a few weeks will result in the loss of workers who are key to making corrections. Layoff notices went out to several dozen workers on Thursday and are expected to lead to the departure of high-demand talent within days. That exodus could add months or even years to the pace of improvements, the administration says, burdening 175 deputy registrars and the vehicle-owning public with more of the long lines, delays and license-plate errors that have plagued MNLARS since July.
The Legislature has been on notice since late January about the need for additional funding. It was reminded of the urgency attached to the $10 million funding shift last week. But when given the opportunity Thursday to respond, the House declined to do so, casting a 55-74 party-line vote against taking immediate action.
Republican Rep. Paul Torkelson, transportation chair, said denying the requested suspension of House rules was a way to “put more pressure on this agency and on this governor” to fix MNLARS. “The responsibility for this mess lies squarely on the shoulders of the governor and his administration,” he said.
To that, DFL Rep. Rick Hansen aptly responded: “After this vote, it’s yours.” Refusing to shift funds before layoff notices were required to go out makes Republican legislators part of the MNLARS problem.
Torkelson issued a statement after the vote promising to review the request next week and “take action as appropriate.” Appropriate action must consist of more than bashing the DFL governor. Funding that keeps the MNLARS repair team on the job must come next week.
More coverage of Thursday's House action can be found at MInnesota Public Radio, where Tim Pugmire reports in Lawmakers blow past Dayton deadline for more MNLARS funding.
KSFY, an ABC affiliate in Sioux Falls takes a look at how the delays will affect one neighboring county in Rock County prepares for extended period of MNLARS issues:
“Motor vehicle isn't a fun place to come anyway and this whole system isn't making it any easier on anybody,” Rock County Deputy Auditor/Treasurer Meg Nelson said.
Problems continue in Minnesota’s license and title registration program but lawmakers have denied any further funding.
Thursday the Minnesota State legislature denied $10 million in emergency funding to fix the MNLARS computer system for registering license plates and processing vehicle titles.
Now nearly 40 employees working to fix the issues will be without a job by the end of March, prolonging the headaches for local licensing offices. . . .
This week state lawmakers denied an emergency request for funding to deal with the constant, random issues.
“For instance we have a camper that’s registered as a truck, so we can't renew that because it’s not right in the system, some things that came over from the old system that aren't correct,” Nelson said. “They’re of course getting those from every deputy in the state of Minnesota so it’s a long waiting process.”
Photo: South St. Paul DFL lawmaker Rick Hansen tried ti get things moving last Thursday.
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