Lamont: lengthen drivers’ licenses, car registrations

Democratic candidate for governor Ned Lamont Democratic candidate for governor Ned Lamont Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Buy photo Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Lamont: lengthen drivers’ licenses, car registrations 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Six-year drivers’ licenses would be extended to eight years and the two-year vehicle registration period would go another year, under proposals made Monday by Ned Lamont, the Democratic candidate for governor.

Lamont would order an eight-point plan to transform the state Department of Motor Vehicles with shorter wait times and a massive review of the operation in attempt to cut costs.

“The DMV is emblematic of state government,” Lamont, the Democratic candidate, said in a statement. “It’s stuck in the past, it’s archaic, and it needs to be brought into the 21st century. Long wait times, backwards processes, and dysfunctional computer systems - we need to change how we do business.”

Kendall Marr, spokesman for Bob Stefanowski, the Republican candidate for governor, said Monday that the problems of the DMV are symptomatic of the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

“Ned Lamont's plan sounds like more of the same,” Marr said in a statement. “Bob’s plan to modernize the DMV includes a complete privatization of the agency’s functions. The DMV needs a change in leadership and priorities that will increase efficiency, reduce wait times and provide better quality service to the state, and that's only going to happen with Bob Stefanowski as governor.”

Lamont said he wants to give as many as 20 local city and town halls the ability to provide basic vehicular services. He also wants more services to become available online. He would also create new DMV “express centers” in town halls and kiosks in participating businesses.

For millions of residents, the DMV is one of their main contacts with government, “and they’ve been let down by bureaucracy,” Lamont said. “This is about bringing a broken agency into the future and giving Connecticut residents the services they deserve.”

He said that vendors for the agency, including 3M, did not have to pay back any contractual price for failing to fulfill their contracts.

He noted that the three main computer systems of the DMV, including a 40-year-old mainframe computer, a registration platform and payment and scheduling tools for learners’ permit and road tests, are not well-linked, leading to more stress among customers.

Lamont said that like Californians, state residents should be able to schedule appointments with the DMV and that DMV offices should have kiosks to expedite their business. A big problem, he said in a three-page proposal on his website, is integrating the three computer systems that do not communicate well with each other.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT