The Oklahoma Tax Fee is looking for a brand new chief after Gov. Kevin Stitt assigned former Govt Director Jay Doyle to supervise know-how options for a backlog in driver’s licenses and identification playing cards.
Doyle, who took over on the Tax Fee in September 2019, will transfer to the Workplace of Administration and Enterprise Providers. He’ll work with the state’s chief working officer, Steve Harpe, to search out methods to make Oklahoma’s disjointed methods for driver’s licenses work higher.
Partly pushed by the coronavirus pandemic, Oklahomans have confronted lengthy strains and prolonged delays for the previous yr at Division of Public Security workplaces and plenty of tag brokers to resume driver’s licenses or get Actual ID playing cards.
To handle the backlog within the quick time period, the Legislature appropriated $6.6 million for “mega facilities” in Oklahoma Metropolis and Tulsa that may supply prolonged hours and extra workers to assist prospects.
The Oklahoma Metropolis mega middle is scheduled to open Monday, July 26 on the former Oklahoma State Division of Well being location at NE 10 and Stonewall, stated DPS spokeswoman Sarah Stewart. It will likely be open for walk-in prospects solely from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday. The mega middle could have 20 workstations and can supply renewals and Actual IDs for residents already with an Oklahoma driver’s license. Out-of-state transfers and first-time drivers will nonetheless have to go to DPS workplaces.
The Tulsa megacenter is scheduled to open on Aug. 16 on the Kensington Enterprise Heart at 7130 S. Lewis Ave. It should have the identical hours because the Oklahoma Metropolis mega middle.
“We are attempting to maintain it easy and never do the extra sophisticated stuff. We employed temp workers to do the information entry half and now we have DPS workers there to confirm paperwork and do troubleshooting,” Stewart stated. “We’re hopeful that having the mega facilities will take the strain off the DPS places, so individuals who have to go to a DPS location will be capable of get in now.”
The mega middle workers have additionally obtained coaching to do on-line renewals through the downtimes on the facilities. There’s at present a few two-month watch for Oklahomans who’ve renewed on-line, Stewart stated.
“That needs to be getting drastically higher within the close to future,” she stated.
For greater than 90 years, Oklahoma has cut up licensing and different driver companies amongst DPS workplaces and tag brokers, whose appointments are permitted by the Tax Fee. That blended mannequin labored for many years however has come below strain as extra authorities companies transfer on-line. The web system utilized by tag brokers doesn’t fully line up with the one utilized by DPS. The long-delayed rollout of Actual ID final yr on a separate platform solely exacerbated the know-how issues.
Due to his management on the Tax Fee, Stitt and lawmakers requested Doyle to discover a long-term answer to the license backlogs. Rep. Dell Kerbs, R-Shawnee, and Sen. Chuck Corridor, R-Perry, have led the legislative efforts to deal with the backlog.
“We all know Oklahomans are pissed off by these delays and I’m too,” Stitt stated in a information launch Thursday. “We should repair the speedy points with our driver’s license course of and rework the system to higher serve Oklahomans sooner or later. This can be a complicated activity, and Jay Doyle is the appropriate chief for this mission. I admire Senator Corridor, Consultant Kerbs and all our legislative companions for his or her work to unravel this problem.”
The Tax Fee doesn’t have a timeline on naming a brand new govt director however began promoting the place final week. The three-person fee makes the appointment.
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Bashaier Mahmoud, a neighborhood singer, is working as a driver’s license clerk on the Division of Public Security’s short-term mega middle in Oklahoma Metropolis. The middle will open to the general public on July 26 and a second mega middle is scheduled to open in Tulsa subsequent month. The facilities purpose to cut back the state’s backlog of pissed off residents and overwhelmed tag companies following the introduction of the state’s new Actual IDs. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch) -
A driver’s license mega middle will open within the former Division of Well being tower in Oklahoma Metropolis on July 26 to assist cut back the backlog of residents making an attempt to resume their license. The middle is at present open to state workers whereas clerks are being skilled on the method. Kristin and Mark Birchell, who works for the well being division, and Brenda Mangum, who additionally works on the well being division, renewed their licenses on July 15. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch) -
Driver’s license clerk Tyanne Williams counts down earlier than taking a photograph of a state worker on the Division of Public Security’s Oklahoma Metropolis mega middle on July 15. The middle will open to the general public on July 26 and is geared toward lowering the backlog of residents ready to get their license renewed. Williams is a short lived worker introduced on to workers the middle. When she isn’t working on the middle, Williams makes and sells jewellery and takes care of her 3-year-old son. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch) -
Driver’s license clerk Kea Carson trains James Mason on the Division of Public Security’s mega middle on July 15. Mason is a short lived worker employed to assist the company tackle a backlog of requests from residents who have to renew their license or need the brand new Actual ID. When he isn’t processing IDs, Mason is a music producer. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch) -
Driver’s license clerks Tyanne Williams, left, and Heather Vassar, proper, assist two state workers register for his or her Actual IDs. The clerks are short-term workers on the Division of Public Security’s driver’s license mega middle in Oklahoma Metropolis. The middle is simply open to state workers whereas clerks are being skilled however will open to the general public for driver’s license renewals on July 26. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch) -
Krista Decrease, proper, an auditor coach for the Division of Public Security, teaches Bashaier Mahmoud tips on how to register Oklahomans who making use of for the state’s new Actual ID driver’s license. The company employed dozens of short-term workers like Mahmoud, who’s a neighborhood singer, to workers driver’s license megacenters in Oklahoma Metropolis and Tulsa to be able to tackle a backlog that has left many residents pissed off and tag companies overwhelmed. (Whitney Bryen/Oklahoma Watch)
Paul Monies has been a reporter with Oklahoma Watch since 2017. He covers state companies and public well being. Name or textual content him at (571) 319-3289 or electronic mail [email protected]. Observe him on Twitter at @pmonies.
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