House OK’s aid to deputy registrars hit hard by MNLARS woes

Help could be on the way for deputy registrars who were hammered by last year’s disastrous rollout of the state’s new motor vehicle license and registration system.

The House on Thursday passed HF2835, sponsored by Rep. Dave Baker (R-Willmar), 123-1, as amended. Heading to the Senate where Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) is the sponsor, the bill would appropriate $9 million from a Driver and Vehicle Services special operating account to provide reimbursement aid to deputy registrars.

Rep. Dave Baker

That system, known as MNLARS, has been beset by major design flaws and glitches since it went live in July 2017 and has left state officials scrambling to fix it. Its myriad issues have caused registrars to lose around $25 million, industry representatives have told lawmakers.

Baker said his proposed legislation would provide much-needed help to the local offices that work as agents of the state to issue things like license tabs and title transfers to motor vehicle owners.

“This is a much-needed bill,” said Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia), a frequent critic of the state’s handling of MNLARS. “You all have deputy registrars in your community and they are hurting. And they’ve been hurting since day one.”

WATCH House Floor debate on the bill 

The bill would establish a formula for disbursing aid based on transactions, exclude transactions and offices operated by Driver and Vehicle Services, and direct Minnesota Management and Budget to seek to distribute the funding within 30 days of the legislation’s effective date.

The formula would distribute 50 percent of funds based on each registrar’s share of total transactions from Aug. 1, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018, and 50 percent of funds based on each deputy registrar’s proportional share of transactions during fiscal years 2015-17.

Minnesota has spent more than $90 million so far on developing MNLARS, and lawmakers last month OK’d nearly $10 million in emergency funding for the state’s IT agency to continue work on improving the program. State officials have also requested an additional $33 million for the project.