Nixon pledges to bid Mo. fee offices

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Democratic governor-elect Jay Nixon said Friday he will require all 183 local license offices to be competitively bid, ending a political patronage plum that Republican Gov. Matt Blunt has started to phase out.

Local fee offices allow Missourians to renew driver's licenses and motor vehicle registrations without coming to Jefferson City. The license offices can keep a fee added to each transaction, which can make them profitable for those who receive a state contract to operate them.

Nixon, speaking to reporters by telephone, also called for making it easier to reregister online. One of the hindrances to online registration in Missouri is that motorists must prove they have paid county personal property taxes on their vehicles, and many county clerks don't publish that information on the Internet.

When Blunt took office in 2005, he initially followed tradition in awarding fee office contracts. But since 2006, as vacancies occurred, Blunt's administration has used competitive bids to fill openings.

Nixon's competitive bidding plan is to move in waves, with the first offices put up for bid the day Nixon takes office on Jan. 12, and the contracts awarded by mid-February.

Fee office applicants will be judged based on efficiency, customer service, financial stability and past performance. Extra points will be given for minority- and women-owned businesses, those willing to return to the state part of the processing fee and if the applicant is a not-for-profit or civic group.

"This is about getting rid of advantages for specific people and getting to a situation in which all are equal," Nixon said. "And those that can provide the service in a cost-effective manner to the state, those that can make the system more efficient and effective for our state are the ones who are going to win these bids."

But that doesn't mean that political supporters won't still be eligible.

"Just because somebody gave $25 and came to a rally of mine in Winona should not exclude them from the opportunity of bidding," he said.

Democratic and Republican governors historically have each rewarded allies with the driver's license office contracts, but controversy over the practice increased in recent years. Lawmakers, particularly Democrats though some Republicans have joined in, criticized Blunt's administration for how it initially handled the awarding of fee offices.

In 2006, the FBI interviewed former fee office agents, focusing on some relatively new arrangements in which the offices have been awarded to contractors, who then have been approached by a third party to manage them. But the investigation was closed without charges and the U.S. attorney's office said Blunt never was a target nor implicated in any wrongdoing.

That same year, Blunt's office started competitively bidding new contracts for fee offices. Department of Revenue spokesman David Griffith said 12 fee offices have been competitively bid since 2006.

Blunt spokeswoman Jessica Robinson said in a written statement that the governor has improved customer service and shed public light on the license system.

"This open process has been good for state government and good for taxpayers and Governor Blunt applauds Gov.-elect Nixon for continuing these open bids," Robinson said.

Griffith said the state gives potential contractors about a month to submit a business plan for fee offices openings. The Revenue Department then evaluates those responses based on the applicants' ability to protect customer data, provide appropriate security, train personnel, meet office and equipment needs and provide quality customer insurance.

When asked by reporters how his plan for fee offices is different than the current process, Nixon said some of the criteria used in the competitive bidding would change, including an increased focus on extended operating hours to nights and weekends.

Nixon's proposal released Friday is different from the idea he outlined during the gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. In his platform, Nixon called for creating commission to study how to fix the driver's license office system and requiring contract agents to go through the standard gubernatorial appointee process.

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On the Net:

Nixon: http://www.govelect.mo.gov

Department of Revenue: http://www.dor.mo.gov