State lawmakers promised Wednesday help is on the way for thousands of Oklahomans facing months-long delays in getting driver’s licenses.
Sen. Chuck Hall (R-Perry) said to help clear a roughly 300,000 person backlog, they’re taking a page from the state’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics and unemployment claim events and standing up "megacenters."
"We’re going to use the same model for REAL ID. In the beginning, we’ll start in Oklahoma City and then move to a Tulsa location. It’s our plan … to start these sometime in early to mid-summer. We see these operating until the end of the year," Perry said.
The fiscal year 2022 appropriations bill included $6.6 million for the megacenters. Hall said they will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
"And with those megacenters being in the metro locations, that’s going to allow our rural tag agencies in our rural communities to getting to servicing their folks, because many of our agencies out there, tag agencies, are getting folks that are coming from the metro areas," said Rep. Dell Kerbs (R-Shawnee).
Lawmakers passed and Gov. Kevin Stitt signed legislation this session to also help by doing things like allowing an eight-year license renewal option and giving tag agents a bigger cut of REAL ID fees. Compliant ID cards take much longer to process.
The driver’s license backlog has been caused by a combination of REAL ID rollout bugs, pandemic-related staffing issues and confusion over new online systems.
Because of the pandemic's impact on states' abilities to issue compliant driver's licenses and ID cards, the federal government has delayed full enforcement of REAL ID until May 3, 2023.
