Legislative leaders inspect progress on new system to replace MNLARS
Lawmakers got a demo of the new system set to replace MNLARS.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - After scrapping MNLARS in favor of starting over for a new vehicle registration system for Minnesota, the governor and state lawmakers got a chance to check out the progress on the replacement.
The MNLARS vehicle registration system failed from the start. The new system, called VTRS, is already under development.
Legislative leaders inspect progress on new system to replace MNLARS
After scrapping MNLARS in favor of starting over for a new vehicle registration system for Minnesota, the governor and state lawmakers got a chance to check out the progress on the replacement.
Thursday, those building the new system showed House and Senate lawmakers how it could save customers time at the DVS office by keeping track of the driver’s vehicles.
"If Samantha was in our office to renew her driver’s license," explained Deputy Registrar Joel Heider. "It would give us other vehicles, depending on when their dates of registration are, it will give us suggested transactions that we could potentially give to the customer.”
Another upgrade from MNLARS is it allows registrars to add and release liens when renewing a vehicle registration. With a couple of click, it’s done.
The Legislative Auditor’s Office says the project is on track. The first phase of the project, which is the replacement of MNLARS, is set to take place by November 16. So far, the program has only spent $5 million of the $52 million appropriated by the legislature and it’s forecasted to come under budget.
However, Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington warned that a big risk factor in meeting all of those goals is REAL ID. Too many Minnesotans have yet to apply and Driver Vehicle Services may have to shift staff away from VTRS to process last-minute REAL ID applications next fall.
"With the REAL ID requirement for travel looming on the Oct 1, 2020 date," said Harrington, "we recognize that a great deal of staff time is going to have to be dedicated to making sure that the little over 11 percent of people that don’t have REAL ID are able to get to grandma’s house for Thanksgiving."
There’s such concern about the lack of people applying for REAL ID that the House and Senate Transportations Committees will hold a joint hearing on the issue later next week.