Lawmakers want state Motor Vehicle Commission officials to answer for long lines and waits county by the hour at agencies last month at a hearing to be held in September. Watch video
RAHWAY - Democratic lawmakers want state Motor Vehicle Commission officials to answer for long lines and customer waits that have been measured in hours at agencies across the state.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester and Senator Robert Gordon announced Wednesday that hearings will be held by the oversight committee as soon as MVC officials can make arrangements to testify.
"We hope to hold it within a month, it's a matter of scheduling," Gordon said after a press conference at the Rahway Motor Vehicle agency. "Maybe we can find a short term fix for people now."
Sweeney said he wants answers on why the MVC, which was fixed under Gov. James E. McGreevey's administration, is broken again.
"This should be customer friendly," Sweeney said. "We've heard it from around the state. People got used to it working well and noticed the difference."
Assemblyman Jerry Green, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman talk about demanding answers about long waits at the MVC agency behind them. There were no lines that snaked around the building on Wednesday, which were seen two weeks ago due to computer problems on three separate days.
MVC officials also blamed the lines on traditional high volume at the beginning and end of the month, when driver's licenses and vehicle registrations come up for renewal.
Lawmakers said there has always been high volume at motor vehicle agencies at the beginning and end of the month and that the MVC should be staffed to handle it.
"This doesn't happen in other states, Gordon said. "It's putting taxpayers and drivers through inhumane conditions."
Lawmakers said they also want to know why it's taken eight years to replace the MVC's aging computer system.
The MVC is in the process of upgrading its 30-year old computer system, spending a total of $23 million to remove some functions from the aging mainframe after Hewlett-Packard ended a contract with motor vehicle departments in New Jersey.
But some blamed other decisions by the MVC for the problems.
The new agency building in Rahway is half the size of the structure it replaced and has to serve more customers after the MVC closed the Elizabeth agency, said Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman, who managed the Rahway and Springfield agencies from 2003 to 2006. He said the MVC should deploy staff to check the paperwork of customers while they are waiting in line, rather than make them wait hours only to find out they were missing a document.
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Among the answers that Sweeney and Gordon said they want is when the new computer system will be operational, what is causing the lines and long waits, and the effect of closing and consolidating some agencies. Sweeney said he also wants answers about redirecting money that the MVC currently collects to fix these problems.
Procrastinating motorists received little sympathy from Gov. Chris Christie, who suggested they conduct their business in the middle of the month and not wait until the last minute to renew licenses and registrations. However Christie said the state's new director of Office of Information Technology was able to pinpoint the computer problem. He is expecting to see a plan to modernize state computers from the director by September.
"Rather than criticize customers, we should understand that people will postpone transactions until the end of the month," Gordon said, adding he supports an idea to have a license renewal fall on a driver's birthday..
Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.