Otherwise, the entire system will automatically transfer to DMV on Sept. 1, 2020, aimed at convincing the next regular session of the legislature that DPS should continue as the agency in charge of the roughly five million license transactions a year. Included in the new funding is $1 million for the DPS to complete a study by Sept. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, pointed out that DPS is under the gun to provide results. The architects of the transfer plan, Sen. The legislature has now poured more than $650 million into DPS over the last four sessions, in a thus-far futile attempt to reduce waiting times at many of the state’s 235 driver’s license offices. Unexpected by those lawmakers impatient for progress was a contingency plan that added $212.4 million to the DPS budget, much of that for hiring 762 more full-time driver’s license workers, reclassifying and boosting the pay of some current DPS employees, and building and staffing two new driver’s license centers. It will be at least a year before the legislature knows if it accomplished either of those goals.Īs expected, lawmakers approved a plan to move the sprawling system of driver’s license centers from the state Department of Public Safety to the Department of Motor Vehicles, just one of the reforms in Senate Bill 616. Send her a news tip at Consider supporting West Texas journalism with a subscription to Texas legislators began this past session committed to correcting the state’s troubled driver’s license registration system and to stop throwing good money after bad trying to do it.

These upgrades meet the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators national standards, according to the release. Further information about the cards can be found at /DriverLicense.Īlana Edgin is a journalist covering Crime and Courts in West Texas.

If your card does not have the gold star, visit to check their eligibility for early renewal or request a compliant card. More: What's the deadline for the Real ID? 1, 2020, people will need a valid passport, military ID or REAL ID compliant driver's license with the star to travel on commercial airlines or enter federal facilities, according to the release.ĭriver's licenses and IDs issued since October 2016 are REAL ID compliant. Veterans, including disabled veterans, will also have an identifier with their branch of service on the front, according to the release.ĭriver's licenses and IDs will have a gold star in the upper right corner, marking them as REAL ID compliant. People who have a health condition that may hamper their communication abilities will have an identifier on their cards. Laser engraving also adds another layer of protection against forgeries and changes, according to the release. The material is now made from polycarbonate material, which is harder to replicate and tamper with.

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