Rep. Paul Rosenthal (49B) – Legislative Update
I’d like to take a moment to provide a brief MNLARS update:
Last Thursday, layoff notices were sent to the IT computer engineers who have been working on the 30+ year old system. These people have been working diligently with over 100 deputy registrars, auto dealers, financial institutions, and new leadership to develop a comprehensive roadmap to fix MNLARS. As a result, we were seeing improvements with real results; over 4.4 million title and registration transactions have been processed, bringing in more than $900 million in revenue and vehicle title transfer backlogs have been reduced by 40%. But there is still more work to be done.
This week, the chief IT engineer resigned from the project; a significant setback. We cannot risk losing skilled and productive contractors at this point in the resolution phase. If these highly sought engineers continue to leave MNLARS for private sector jobs, we will be back to square one and wait times will increase for tabs and title transfers. In fact, without needed legislative action by the end of the month, urgent repairs for the project will be delayed for more than two years.
To address the immediate need, the Governor requested transferring existing funds from one state account to another which would allow Minnesota to continue progress on MNLARS. Frustratingly, the Republican Majority rejected IT contract renewals for the staff who have been working hard to fix the project since July.
A reliable driver and vehicle services system is a basic core function of government that Minnesotans deserve. Pointing fingers and casting blame is far from what we need to find a solution and move forward.
More discussion lies ahead through the committee process. I hope there will be less stalling; I’m working with colleagues for more consensus to get the problem solved.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
Sincerely,
Paul