House GOP presses ahead on overhaul of license offices

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A couple of weeks after a group of House Republicans backed off from announcing a proposal to overhaul the driver's license office system -- after hearing from Gov. Matt Blunt -- the group is pressing ahead.

Last month, the group of five legislators, none of whom are members of House leadership, announced news conferences around the state to unveil their plan, then quickly canceled them, saying the governor, also a Republican, wanted to discuss the matter.

On Friday, the leading legislator said the media tour is back on, scheduled for Monday in Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield.

What changed?

Freshman Rep. Ryan Silvey, of Kansas City, said the group spent the last two weeks trying to arrange time to meet with the governor but could not. Members still hope to meet sometime later, but Silvey said it's time to explain the idea.

"My colleagues and I feel it's important we go ahead and move forward and let the people know what we're working on," he said.

Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said later Friday that the governor's office had agreed to meet the lawmakers on June 24, but the legislators canceled.

Silvey did not provide details of the plan but noted it has not undergone major changes from the concept two weeks ago.

The 183 privately run offices that handle such business as obtaining a driver's license have been a sore point with Democrats since Blunt took office.

With Republicans now in control, Democrats have called for either allowing nonprofit groups or school districts to run the offices and benefit from the revenue generated, or competitively bidding them, as many other jobs state government requires already are.

While not offering specifics, Silvey has said his basic idea is to move away from a patronage system and that, among other changes, nonprofit groups would play a larger role under his plan.

Robinson said the governor's office has not seen details of the plan and could not comment on specific changes lawmakers want, but she noted the Revenue Department already has made improvements in how license offices are run.

Silvey said he would welcome the governor's input but added Friday that he doesn't intend to back down from introducing some sort of legislation next year to change the system.

"If he has some input that we think is valuable and would make it a better plan, then sure," he said. "Obviously things are able to be changed."

The license offices have been seen as a way to reward political supporters for years and typically change hands when a new governor takes office. But Democrats took issue in particular with Blunt's privatizing the 11 remaining state-run offices, including large ones in St. Louis and Kansas City. Operators can charge a fee for each transaction.

The AP reported in late April that the FBI was investigating the management arrangements for some offices under Blunt's administration. Agents asked questions about a relatively new trend in which fee offices were awarded to contractors, who then were approached by politically connected people to manage them.