[17:20] call this meeting to order

[17:21] we'll ask staff to initiate a

[17:21] roll call

[17:22] determine quorum

[17:26] Representative Bayshore

[17:28] Representative Blancett

[17:30] Representative Heffner

[17:33] Representative Osborne

[17:34] Representative Tedford

[17:39] vice chairman Kane

[17:40] chairirman Cadwell

[17:42] Senator Brooks

[17:44] Senatordaniels

[17:46] Senator Goodwin

[17:48] cider Green

[17:50] en ator Reinhart

[17:52] vice chairman Haste

[17:55] chairirman Hall

[17:58] in accordance with joint rule

[17:59] 9.5 we have a quorum

[18:08] all right well we do have a

[18:09] quorum. Welcome everybody we're

[18:11] glad you're here we'll go ahead

[18:14] and take action on possi on

[18:15] discussion possible action on

[18:16] the minutes from the August

[18:18] twenty7th2026 meeting any

[18:19] discussion needed

[18:24] seen none entertain a motion to

[18:25] approve the minutes from the

[18:25] last meeting

[18:28] a motion to second to approve

[18:29] the minutes from the last

[18:30] meeting will there be discussion

[18:31] roll call please

[18:34] Representative Bayshore

[18:36] Representative Llancett

[18:39] Representative Heffner

[18:41] Representative Osborn

[18:42] Representative Tedford

[18:46] vice chairman Kain

[18:48] chairirmancaldwell

[18:50] Senator Brooks

[18:53] Senatordaniels

[18:54] Senator Goodwin

[18:58] senator Green

[19:00] en ator Reinhart

[19:03] vice chairman Haste

[19:04] ir man Hall

[19:13] with tin eyes and zero nays the

[19:13] motion carries

[19:18] thank you we'll move on to item

[19:19] number4 which is a last

[19:20] presentation of the draft report

[19:22] on Service Oklahoma's driver's

[19:24] license process nice to see

[19:26] everybody in the room today. I

[19:29] wanted to get the director

[19:31] of Service Oklahoma an

[19:32] opportunity to introduce himself

[19:34] and his team before we move to

[19:35] the first finding

[19:38] thank you Mr chairman my name is

[19:39] Jay Doyle I'm the director

[19:40] ofervice Oklahoma and I'm I'm

[19:42] joined today by Deiddre O'Nei

[19:43] who's our chief executive of

[19:44] strategy and operations and and

[19:45] together we run Service Oklahoma

[19:45] and thank you for having us

[19:51] director you are recognized to

[19:54] to lay out the presentation

[19:54] and present your finding

[19:55] number one

[19:59] thank you chairman todayOft is

[20:00] delivering its review of Service

[20:02] Oklahoma's administration of the

[20:03] driver's license process

[20:06] the identification cards issued

[20:08] by states took on heightened

[20:09] importance after the events of

[20:12] 911. A national commission was

[20:13] formed to assess the events that

[20:14] led to the terrorist attacks and

[20:16] how the nation could guard

[20:18] against future attacks one of

[20:19] the report's recommendations was

[20:20] to create a more secure

[20:22] standardized identification card

[20:23] that would be difficult to

[20:26] duplicate or alter. Additionally

[20:27] this identification card would

[20:29] be required to board aircraft.

[20:30] This recommendation was

[20:32] implemented through what we now

[20:33] know as real ID.

[20:36] RealidD was enacted in2005 but

[20:38] it wasn't until2017 that

[20:40] Oklahoma authorized the creation

[20:42] of realidD compliant

[20:44] identification cards the

[20:45] legislation also gave Oklahomans

[20:46] the option to obtain

[20:48] identification cards that are

[20:49] not in compliance with realidd

[20:49] standards

[20:52] The Department of Public Safety

[20:53] began implementing realidD

[20:56] in2018 but progress was slow a

[20:58] federal deadline was looming and

[21:00] public concerns were growing

[21:00] about the ability to travel by

[21:01] plane.

[21:02] in 2020

[21:04] these challenges were

[21:08] exacerbated byOID-19 leading to

[21:09] long wait times for services and

[21:12] frustrated Oklahomans. In2021,

[21:14] members of the legislature sent

[21:15] a letter to the governor urging

[21:16] him to address the issues

[21:18] through executive action the

[21:19] next day the governor issued an

[21:20] executive order enacting

[21:23] mandates to reduce the wait time

[21:23] for licensing services.

[21:26] Serviceokklahoma's created the

[21:27] next year in2022.

[21:31] the dutyies previously handled

[21:32] between two state agencies were

[21:33] combined into one

[21:36] from the motor vehicle division

[21:37] under the tax commission and the

[21:39] driver's licenseervices division

[21:40] under the department of Public

[21:42] Safety the stated goals for the

[21:44] new agency were to consolidate

[21:46] fra maintenance services reduce

[21:48] wait times, standardize how

[21:50] services are delivered expand

[21:52] digital capabilities and

[21:53] expedite realidD implementation.

[21:57] with this evaluation Loft sought

[21:58] to measure the changes in

[22:00] delivering driver's license

[22:00] services under the new agency

[22:03] and whether the model is

[22:04] providing the intended outcome

[22:06] of improved and consistent

[22:07] customer service to citizens.

[22:11] this evaluation was guided by

[22:14] four key objectives evaluate the

[22:15] changes in service delivery

[22:16] after the transition toer

[22:17] Oklahoma

[22:20] assess the current processes

[22:22] ofervice Oklahoma including any

[22:24] measurable outcomes related to

[22:25] service delivery assess the role

[22:28] of technology in modernizing the

[22:30] delivery of services and compare

[22:31] Oklahoma service delivery and

[22:31] costs to other states

[22:35] our evaluation resulted in three

[22:36] findings

[22:40] finding one contrary to

[22:41] legislative intent citizens

[22:43] experiences vary between state

[22:43] and private operators

[22:47] finding two Oklahoma offers

[22:48] greater access to driver's

[22:50] license services than similar

[22:52] sized states and finding 3

[22:54] Oklahoma has the 10th highest

[22:55] driver's license fees

[22:58] Mister chairirman, I'd ask that

[22:59] you recognize Jeremy Knapp for

[23:00] presentation of the report's

[23:01] first finding.

[23:02] you're recognized

[23:16] Thank you Mr chairman

[23:19] finding one contrary to

[23:20] legislative intent, citizen's

[23:22] experiences vary between state

[23:23] and private operators

[23:26] the state of Oklahoma utilizes a

[23:28] public private partnership to

[23:29] provide motor vehicle and

[23:30] driver's license services to

[23:32] Oklahomans through a joint

[23:33] network of state operated

[23:34] facilities and licensed

[23:35] operators

[23:37] the state operated facilities

[23:38] are directly managed by Service

[23:40] Oklahoma which is responsible

[23:42] for the costs operations

[23:43] maintenance of physical

[23:43] locations and its staff.

[23:46] licensed operators are private

[23:48] businesses that act as agents of

[23:50] the state with the exception of

[23:51] technology the business is

[23:52] responsible for the operation

[23:53] maintenance and their staff

[23:56] Serviceokklahoma has developed a

[23:58] franchise model that promotes

[24:00] consistent customer experience

[24:01] across state operated locations

[24:03] the fees charged for services

[24:05] are set in statute as is Service

[24:06] Oklahoma's authority to set the

[24:08] amount of each transaction that

[24:09] is kept by the licensed operator

[24:11] this authority ensures

[24:12] predictable revenue forervice

[24:14] Oklahoma's budget and it

[24:15] eliminates local pricing

[24:16] competition between licensed

[24:18] operators licensed operators in

[24:20] the state benefit from the

[24:22] publicprivate partnership. Since

[24:24] licensed operators own their own

[24:25] location they can better cost

[24:26] control a large expenditure

[24:28] category while keeping the state

[24:29] from having to invest in a large

[24:30] physical footprint to provide

[24:32] services this directly allows

[24:35] the network of LOs to cover the

[24:35] rural areas of the state

[24:38] Additionally, since the licensed

[24:39] operator is a private business

[24:40] they are allowed to stack other

[24:42] services in the same physical

[24:44] location. Lo found that it is

[24:46] not uncommon for a licensed

[24:47] operator to also be an insurance

[24:49] agent or a public accountant.

[24:51] These parallel businesses help

[24:52] offset the cost of doing

[24:52] business in that area.

[24:56] When Service Oklahoma was

[24:58] created there were clear

[24:59] operational deficiencies. wait

[25:00] times or the amount of time a

[25:02] customer waited in the lobby

[25:03] before they were called to a

[25:05] workstation was one problematic

[25:07] area. Loft attempted to measure

[25:08] the average time average wait

[25:10] times of customers at licensed

[25:11] operators and service Oklahoma

[25:14] facilities however licensed

[25:15] operators are not required to

[25:17] track these times. This resulted

[25:18] in loft only measuring the

[25:20] change in wait times for the

[25:22] 3foerce Oklahoma locations.

[25:23] Since its inceptioner Oklahoma

[25:23] has been able to reduce

[25:26] the average wait time from 1

[25:27] hour and 8 minutes down to24

[25:28] minutes

[25:32] to address frustration of system

[25:34] outages and outdated systems

[25:36] service Oklahoma implemented

[25:38] Project Boost. Projectboost

[25:40] started development in2023 to

[25:41] replace the legacy driver's

[25:42] license system fastst

[25:44] enterprises won the RFP with a41

[25:46] million dollars proposal and a

[25:47] final product was launched on

[25:47] February 17th of this year

[25:52] Projectboost delivered three

[25:54] measurable changes. First, erce

[25:56] Oklahoma reports transactions

[25:58] are being completed 38% faster.

[26:00] Transaction times are measured

[26:01] as the amount of time it takes

[26:02] the customer service agent to

[26:04] complete a transaction after the

[26:05] customer has been called to

[26:06] their workstation

[26:08] these times can be measured

[26:10] across all locations since

[26:10] technology is a centralized

[26:11] service.

[26:14] Service Oklahoma reports that

[26:15] the platform for issuing both

[26:16] licenses and vehicle

[26:18] registrations has maintained a

[26:19] 99% stability rating

[26:22] and lastly since the system for

[26:23] both vehicle registration and

[26:24] licenses are all from the same

[26:26] vendor Service Oklahoma and

[26:28] licensed operators can have all

[26:29] workstations completing all

[26:29] transaction types.

[26:34] while Service Oklahoma has been

[26:35] able to drive improvement

[26:37] system-wide through the use of

[26:38] technology. Loft deserves

[26:39] service delivery challenges that

[26:40] are outside of the agency's

[26:42] control. For example, Service

[26:44] Oklahoma locations use a dynamic

[26:46] weighting system that allows the

[26:48] agency to track wait times and

[26:49] communicate this information to

[26:51] the public who can then choose a

[26:52] location for their service.

[26:54] meanwhile licensed operators are

[26:56] not required to use the system.

[26:58] Loft also found that the

[26:59] operational hours kept by

[27:00] licensed operators are not

[27:01] consistent or in accordance with

[27:02] statut

[27:03] ory intent.

[27:06] Title47 Section1144 of Oklahoma

[27:08] statute states that the licensed

[27:09] operators are required to

[27:12] operate40 hours per week with

[27:14] four of those hours being

[27:15] outside of normal business hours

[27:15] or on a Saturday.

[27:18] the same section gives the

[27:20] service Oklahoma operator board

[27:21] the authority to approve

[27:22] deviations from those

[27:22] requirements

[27:26] Lo found thatokklahomans don't

[27:28] know if or when a licensed

[27:30] operator is open for example, on

[27:32] Google this licensed operator

[27:34] states they are open from 9 to5

[27:35] every day except on Friday when

[27:37] they close at4 and they are not

[27:39] open during the weekendccording

[27:40] to Google, the licensed operator

[27:42] is open for 39 hours a week and

[27:44] does not have any hours outside

[27:46] of normal business hours. this

[27:48] would require them to have an

[27:50] approved hour ofation deviation

[27:52] from the operator board. The

[27:53] licensed operator filed an hour

[27:53] ofation deviation with

[27:56] the operator board that

[27:58] requested they work from 8:30

[28:00] to5 every day except on Fridays

[28:02] and never on the weekends. This

[28:04] equals411 and a half hours

[28:06] weekly without working any hours

[28:07] on the weekend. The hours

[28:08] reported on Google and what is

[28:10] filed with theervice Oklahoma

[28:12] operator board should match as

[28:13] these are the times that the

[28:14] licensed operator has reported

[28:15] to the board that they are

[28:16] serving Oklahomans

[28:19] licensed operators can manually

[28:21] modify their hours by simply

[28:22] hanging a sign on the door. In

[28:24] this example, the licensed

[28:26] operator is open from 8:30 to5

[28:28] daily and closes early on

[28:29] Friday. the licensed operator

[28:30] does not report the hour and a

[28:32] half that credential processing

[28:34] is unavailable.dditionally this

[28:36] licensed operator doesn't report

[28:37] that the last credential

[28:39] appointment is at4. Locations

[28:40] like this like this one only

[28:42] issue credentials for 30 hours a

[28:44] week and not during the hours

[28:45] that may be most convenient to

[28:46] working Oklahomans

[28:52] Wa found that of the234 licensed

[28:54] operators across the state,72%

[28:56] or 168 of them have an approved

[28:58] hour of operation deviation on

[29:00] file with the service Oklahoma

[29:01] operator Board.

[29:03] the board voted to make any

[29:06] deviation to this that is

[29:08] requested by a licensed operator

[29:09] to be a permanit request as of

[29:10] March12,2025's board minutes.

[29:13] These minutes can also be found

[29:13] in Pinnick's eye of the report

[29:20] These inconsistent hours between

[29:22] operators became at a cons a

[29:23] consistent theme in googleviews

[29:24] left on licensed operator's

[29:27] business pages one consumer

[29:29] asked quote, how do working

[29:30] people renew their license if

[29:32] the LO says the only hours you

[29:33] can do it are after opening at

[29:35] 9, closed throughout lunch, and

[29:36] they shut down an hour before

[29:39] the tag agency closes unquote La

[29:40] found numerous examples of this

[29:42] frustration through a random

[29:44] sample of 131 licensed

[29:45] operators. Lofter reviewed the

[29:46] most recent six months of Google

[29:47] reviews and

[29:50] found that licensed operators

[29:51] often close early have incorrect

[29:54] hours posted or inconsistent in

[29:55] the services they provide.

[29:58] Most of these frustrations could

[30:00] be addressed in the already

[30:02] established audit framework that

[30:03] is utilized by Service Oklahoma.

[30:06] The operational complaints could

[30:07] be addressed while performing

[30:08] the annual field audit that is

[30:10] focused on operational standards

[30:11] like performing all transaction

[30:13] types or by guaranteeing that

[30:14] the hours posted on the door

[30:15] match that on file with the

[30:18] board and on google.dditionally,

[30:19] erce Oklahoma should review

[30:20] publicly available reviews to

[30:22] determine if further

[30:23] investigation is required in the

[30:25] event of a licensed operator not

[30:25] meeting operational standards

[30:28] any violation of these standards

[30:29] should be reported to the board

[30:30] to act on

[30:34] Mister chairirman that concludes

[30:35] our presentation of the report's

[30:35] first finding

[30:38] re ctor Doyle do you care to

[30:39] respond sir?

[30:42] thank you thank you Mr chairman

[30:44] umervice oklahoma partially

[30:46] agrees with with finding number

[30:48] one I think we do agree that the

[30:49] customer' experience does vary

[30:50] between both state run

[30:52] facilities licensed operators

[30:53] and even between licensed

[30:54] operator and licensed operator

[30:56] and I think the degree of

[30:58] variation I think differs

[30:59] between again location the type

[31:00] of service and that citizens

[31:02] really don't always encounter

[31:03] the same level of experience

[31:04] at a licensed operator or

[31:06] between licensed operators as

[31:07] they do at aervi Oklahoma

[31:09] location and I also say I think

[31:09] umm continuing to drive greater

[31:12] consistency is a major priority

[31:14] of of of the agency and I

[31:15] think we're continuing to work

[31:18] on that I I think something that

[31:19] to put into context around

[31:20] finding number one is also

[31:21] thinking about the historical

[31:22] nature of the system that we

[31:25] inherited so we inherited you

[31:26] know when we started this a

[31:27] little over a little less than

[31:28] four years ago at this point the

[31:30] oversight of the the tag agents

[31:31] any tag agent that was in good

[31:32] standing with theokklahoma

[31:33] taxxmission was offered a

[31:34] license to become a licensed

[31:36] operator under Service Oklahoma

[31:37] and so we inherited at the time

[31:39] about250 total licensed

[31:39] operators that we're all

[31:40] operating

[31:42] in their own own methods and

[31:43] methodology their own business

[31:45] practices etc. and so I think

[31:47] trying to drive those into a

[31:48] consistent pattern is something

[31:49] that we've really focused on and

[31:50] and I think finding one does

[31:52] show where there's still some

[31:53] continued gaps there I think

[31:54] specifically when it comes to

[31:56] the hours of deviation prior to

[31:58] Service Oklahoma they didn't

[32:00] actually submit any they never

[32:00] had to submit with their hours

[32:01] actually were to the Oklama Tax

[32:02] mission or the department of

[32:04] Public Safety so it wasn't

[32:04] actually an exemption process in

[32:06] place or even a an

[32:07] acknowledgment of what those

[32:08] hours were is that something

[32:09] that the licensed operator board

[32:10] put into place

[32:12] fairly early in the

[32:14] creationervice Oklahoma is that

[32:15] they actually had to put stated

[32:16] hours and I think something

[32:18] that we've taken from finding

[32:19] one that we agree with and

[32:19] that we're putting into

[32:20] practices that our existing

[32:22] audit process has a gap in

[32:24] identifying whether they're

[32:25] actually upholding the hours of

[32:26] operation that they promised the

[32:28] operator board they do and it's

[32:29] something I think we can build

[32:30] into existing existing audits

[32:31] without taking any additional

[32:32] resources it's just something we

[32:34] can add to the existing process

[32:35] to make things a little bit more

[32:36] clear and more defined and so

[32:38] I think that's something that

[32:39] that we're really focused on

[32:39] I think the other thing that

[32:42] we is one of the advantages of

[32:44] Projectboost that's also going

[32:45] to help in our audit

[32:46] processesreviously it was really

[32:48] hard to audit when

[32:50] transactions were taking place

[32:52] in the old system and so with

[32:53] Projectboost we can now identify

[32:54] if a licensed operator never is

[32:56] processing driver's license

[32:58] transactions between 10 and2 we

[33:00] have a lot more capabilities now

[33:02] to actually identify that

[33:02] they're actually not adhering

[33:04] even further to their hours or

[33:05] they're taking breaks in

[33:06] specific days to be able to hold

[33:07] them a little bit more

[33:08] accountable in that piece as

[33:09] well and so

[33:12] we really appreciate this

[33:14] finding I think continuing to to

[33:16] work on this I think they're as

[33:17] we think of the private public

[33:18] partnership there's there's

[33:20] obviously pros and cons of of

[33:21] the system that I think have

[33:22] been highlighted in I think

[33:23] there is challenges for some of

[33:24] our operators that are a single

[33:26] operator location where they

[33:27] have one employee in some of

[33:29] these rural locations where if

[33:30] they're sick they're obviously

[33:32] have challenges of being closed

[33:33] if they need to take a lunch

[33:34] break which is often when

[33:35] some of our locations are the

[33:37] busiest they may actually

[33:38] close for a period of time

[33:39] whereas in our our system we can

[33:40] actually have dynam

[33:42] ic staffing where we can

[33:43] actually you know have

[33:44] additional staffing at peak

[33:46] periods and we have part time

[33:47] employees that we can adjust

[33:47] through different periods of

[33:49] time if we have a a small

[33:50] location that has two people

[33:51] that call out we can divert some

[33:52] of our employees from one of our

[33:54] other locations to go and

[33:55] service that that location that

[33:57] may not be a luxury that some of

[33:58] the rural licensed operators

[33:59] have so I think there's some

[34:00] some obviously some some

[34:02] business challenges that they

[34:03] have to to go under being a

[34:04] smaller business that I think

[34:05] some of the advantages that we

[34:06] potentially have as as the state

[34:12] questionsstions on finding

[34:13] number one by the members

[34:16] Senatorhay you're recognized for

[34:18] a question please directed to

[34:19] either to the director or to

[34:20] loft thank you Mr chairman and

[34:24] and this is to you director

[34:26] and I know we'll get into

[34:28] this a little bit more but the

[34:31] deviations as far as our which I

[34:33] think's a critical thing when

[34:34] again when we look at a a

[34:36] service type scenario because at

[34:37] the end of the day this is a

[34:42] retail operation OK? and but

[34:43] the deviation hours is that

[34:47] approved by the governing body

[34:50] because that I believe you

[34:51] know the structure is you

[34:52] haveerce Oklahoma but did you

[34:54] have a governing body over this

[34:56] it's made up of other people you

[35:00] just happen to sit on that is

[35:02] the the change in hours is that

[35:03] approved by this governing body

[35:08] thank you for that question

[35:10] so give a little background on

[35:11] kind of our structure and then

[35:12] we're happy to answer the

[35:14] question so soervice Olahoma

[35:15] we have essentially two kind of

[35:16] boards we've an advisory

[35:18] committee that is made up of six

[35:19] licensed operators plus a

[35:20] representative from Service

[35:22] Oklahoma that gives advice and

[35:24] and recommendations to both the

[35:25] agency as well as to the

[35:27] licensed operator boardard

[35:28] and so that's an advisory nature

[35:29] as a whole and that's entirely

[35:30] made up of licensed operators

[35:31] and then we actually have a

[35:33] licensed operator board that has

[35:34] no oversight of the agency it

[35:35] has just strictly oversight over

[35:38] the issuance of licenses and the

[35:39] oversight of the licensed

[35:40] operators and so that board is a

[35:42] nine member board 3 are

[35:43] appointed by the governor one of

[35:44] which is the

[35:46] directorserviceokklahoma 3

[35:47] are appointed by the pro tempmp

[35:48] one of which has to be licensed

[35:50] operator of a county over

[35:52] 100,000 people and then there is

[35:54] 3 appointed by the speaker one

[35:55] of which has to be a licensed

[35:56] operator in a county of less

[35:58] than 100,000 people and so

[36:00] yes the the we collect the

[36:02] submissions of the exemptions in

[36:03] the board to to tax or or

[36:04] approves or denies what those

[36:05] exemptions look like so yes the

[36:05] board

[36:06] itself is approving those

[36:10] and then as

[36:10] as follow up

[36:14] related to that then

[36:18] someone has approved

[36:22] the licensed operator to not

[36:23] have to be opened during lunch

[36:26] or not doing certain services

[36:28] during launch and if so why

[36:29] would they do that

[36:32] thank you for that question you

[36:34] know I I don't want to speak on

[36:36] on behalf of the board'll I'll

[36:37] say that the board is trying to

[36:39] be consistent and reasonable of

[36:40] what makes sense in different

[36:41] communities and I think that

[36:44] there's been an effort of of

[36:45] trying to make sure that

[36:48] that it makes sense in in

[36:49] different communities because I

[36:50] do think that there are for

[36:51] example there are rural

[36:52] communities that Friday

[36:54] afternoons there's no traffic

[36:55] coming into the location because

[36:55] they're all going to the Friday

[36:56] night football game and so it's

[36:58] one of those things that I think

[36:59] the board's taken into

[37:00] consideration. I think they've

[37:01] taken a stance that as long as

[37:03] the operators open40 hours in

[37:04] some way shape or form they

[37:05] pretty much granted that

[37:06] exemption historically and so I

[37:07] can always speak to what they've

[37:08] historically done and I can't

[37:09] give you exact reasons why

[37:09] they've done that

[37:14] one last follow up ok tied in

[37:16] with that I believe that

[37:20] there is supposed to be4 hours

[37:22] outside of normal business hours

[37:26] so to speak so is are those

[37:28] hours being made up somewhere

[37:30] else are they being open on

[37:32] Saturday or is there some way

[37:34] they're still providing the

[37:36] service where you can get this

[37:37] beyond just normal hours

[37:42] thank you for that question I

[37:43] think historically they've been

[37:46] open40 total hours and I don't

[37:47] think they've necessarily you

[37:49] know and I think as as loft's

[37:51] finding represents there's a you

[37:53] know70+ percent that are not

[37:54] having those four hours outside

[37:56] of the normal business hours

[37:57] that's been the most common

[37:59] exemption that's been granted is

[38:00] they've been open40 but they

[38:02] don't have those four hours that

[38:03] are after5 or on the weekends

[38:04] etc. and so that's typically

[38:05] been the most common exemption

[38:05] the board has granted

[38:09] Representative Heffner

[38:13] thank you chairman thank you for

[38:15] thank you for loft and

[38:18] thank you for being here

[38:20] director with a large

[38:22] investment that we put into

[38:25] boost it has significantly

[38:28] reduced wait times looks like

[38:29] the

[38:32] the average is in here and maybe

[38:35] not the median time but again it

[38:36] it it has done some good with

[38:38] that big investment do you see

[38:42] with the more use of online that

[38:44] by investing in this large IT

[38:47] investment will also help reduce

[38:48] costs to Oklahomans

[38:54] thank you for that question I

[38:56] think so a couple things on

[38:58] on Project boost so Projectboost

[39:00] one upgraded our motor vehicle

[39:01] system of record and it

[39:02] completely replaced our driver's

[39:03] license system of record and

[39:04] combined them into 11 distinct

[39:06] system and so I think Walf

[39:07] highlighted some of those

[39:08] advantages the transaction

[39:10] time is a big piece of it it has

[39:12] reduced you know they they're

[39:14] showing the wait times here of

[39:15] an average of 24 minutes of our

[39:17] locations because of the faster

[39:18] transaction times or wait times

[39:19] in the past you know, I think

[39:20] quarter of kind of average even

[39:21] less than that I think we're

[39:22] about

[39:24] about 12 to14 minute average

[39:25] wait time across our locations

[39:27] currently we have not seen an it

[39:29] also combined the online

[39:30] services provided to citizens

[39:32] where it is a similar experience

[39:33] if you're getting a motor

[39:34] vehicle transaction renewed or a

[39:36] driver's license transaction

[39:37] renewed and historically there

[39:38] have been two separate kind of

[39:40] experiences for a citizen so

[39:42] it's making it a more consistent

[39:43] experience for a citizen on our

[39:46] online services as well from

[39:47] a driver's license perspective

[39:49] we are not seeing an increase of

[39:50] usage when it comes to online

[39:51] driver's license renewals

[39:53] it's been I think it's actually

[39:54] decreased by a couple of

[39:55] percentage points over the last

[39:56] couple of years I think part of

[39:59] that is a lot of times you

[40:00] have to bring in physical

[40:00] documents sometimes you have to

[40:02] retake a photo and I think it

[40:04] was especially peaked during the

[40:05] covid period of time when people

[40:06] either not wanting to go into

[40:08] aation or the wait times were

[40:10] so long they couldn't get into a

[40:11] location so we've actually seen

[40:12] the usage of online driver's

[40:14] licenses decrease I don't

[40:16] think from a citizen's

[40:16] perspective their costs are

[40:18] going to stay the same because

[40:19] those are statutorily set so we

[40:20] don't change the price a citizen

[40:21] pays and they pay the

[40:22] same amount for a driver's

[40:24] license whether it's an online

[40:25] transaction or in person

[40:25] transaction.

[40:28] thank you

[40:29] thank you

[40:30] as

[40:32] you

[40:35] we're moving more towards a

[40:38] digital age as well. So just

[40:39] seeing that how that large

[40:42] investment and maybe

[40:44] increasing online use whether

[40:46] they still may be a need for

[40:48] physical locations but

[40:49] decreasing those physical

[40:51] locations may also be something

[40:52] that we see in the future. do

[40:55] you see that trend in at least

[40:58] maybe lowering costs since we

[41:00] don't have those sort of

[41:02] expenses anymore if we reduce

[41:03] those physical locations

[41:06] thank you for that question I

[41:08] think so one since we've started

[41:09] Serviceo we've seen a decrease

[41:10] in physical locations from

[41:12] about250 down to I think234

[41:15] today we've also had a a small

[41:16] decrease in our actually state

[41:17] run locations I think we've

[41:18] closed two or three of those

[41:20] over the the time since we've

[41:21] been in been in existence

[41:22] also so a couple of other things

[41:25] I'd point out is on online

[41:26] motor vehicle transactions the

[41:28] licensed operators actually

[41:29] perform the transaction of that

[41:30] piece and so they they're

[41:32] actually needed to perform the

[41:33] actual physical or the the

[41:33] actual processing of that

[41:34] transaction

[41:37] theline driver's license

[41:39] component as well statutorily

[41:40] you have to actually come see us

[41:41] every other time you renew your

[41:42] driver's license so we have to

[41:43] see you in person every other

[41:44] time so there's always going to

[41:46] be a need for a citizen to have

[41:47] to actually go and see a

[41:48] physical location the other

[41:50] thing I'd say just

[41:51] philosophically we want to meet

[41:52] citizens where they are and so

[41:53] we want to give citizens the

[41:55] option of the citizen wants to

[41:57] obtain services at their home on

[41:58] their couch on a Friday night

[41:59] we're going to make that an

[41:59] option but if they want to come

[42:00] in and see us and have a

[42:02] friendly service representative

[42:03] meet and greet them we're going

[42:03] to provide that service as well

[42:04] so we really want to meet our

[42:05] citizen

[42:06] s where they are but I do

[42:08] think long term there's a couple

[42:09] of different options of either

[42:09] we could look at and I think

[42:10] this was actually going to

[42:12] become evident in finding too

[42:13] but we can look at what does the

[42:14] future footprint look like and

[42:17] it pro probably is a a

[42:18] potential decrease that we could

[42:19] look at but it also is a

[42:20] potential opportunity of if

[42:21] we're actually taking some

[42:22] volume away from these services

[42:24] what other services could we

[42:25] possibly offer a citizen that

[42:26] makes sense for them to actually

[42:27] obtain at our locations

[42:31] Senator Renhard you're

[42:32] recognized for a question

[42:35] thank you Mr chairman this first

[42:36] question is for the loft

[42:40] representative of the72%

[42:41] that you surveyed that had

[42:43] deviations of time do we know

[42:45] how many of those were had had

[42:46] received exemptions for those

[42:47] deviations or do we have that

[42:48] breakdown

[42:56] thank you for the question and

[42:58] it was all so we looked at all

[43:02] of them so all all72% of them

[43:03] have approved deviations.

[43:10] thank you. so Mrrector I just

[43:12] I guess I'm a little curious

[43:15] maybe either on are we

[43:18] are we approving almost any

[43:19] exemption that is you know,

[43:20] comes across the desk just for

[43:22] ease or or do we need a

[43:24] component of of some level of

[43:26] enforcement or consequences for

[43:29] these entities because if72% of

[43:32] the234 licensed operators are

[43:34] are not fulfilling their

[43:36] statutory requirements and these

[43:38] are lucrative contracts right? I

[43:39] mean the the state is

[43:40] effectively allowing a private

[43:42] business to to go into an area

[43:45] remove all competition I

[43:45] think

[43:48] that's where maybe the rub comes

[43:49] from what we're offering our

[43:51] citizens if if we're either

[43:52] offering blanket exemptions and

[43:54] so everybody that says hey I

[43:55] can't fulfill these hours can we

[43:58] get one or do we need to either

[43:59] provide some resources or

[44:00] internally for you guys to up

[44:02] the enforcement to make sure

[44:03] that they're they're fulfilling

[44:03] their statutory requirements

[44:08] thank you for that question and

[44:09] so we

[44:10] and I think this was a gap that

[44:12] law found that we were embedding

[44:14] into our audit process but we

[44:16] are enforcing the exemptions

[44:17] that are approved by the

[44:18] licensed operator boardard so we

[44:20] as an agency do not approve the

[44:21] exemption of these hours and so

[44:22] that's done by our board we just

[44:24] enforced the regulatory

[44:25] component once those have been

[44:26] approved by the board so

[44:27] anything the board approves is

[44:29] our responsibility to have the

[44:30] regulatory component. I will say

[44:31] the board doesn't

[44:34] I don't know the percent of the

[44:35] exemptions they've approved

[44:36] historically they've approved

[44:37] anything over40 hours and

[44:38] anything under40 hours they've

[44:40] denied and so I do know there

[44:41] have been a handful that they

[44:42] have not approved so it's not

[44:43] been a blanket approval but

[44:44] they've set a pretty pretty

[44:46] straight threshold that as long

[44:47] as the licensed operator hits

[44:48] this number you they can get the

[44:49] exemption and I think that

[44:50] actually's had a

[44:54] an effective where once the

[44:55] licensed operators know that

[44:56] we've had more exemptions come

[44:57] through every year because they

[44:58] know they can get away with

[44:59] being open40 hours and not being

[45:00] open those additional hours but

[45:02] but that's all all handled by

[45:03] the board itself not by the

[45:04] agency.

[45:07] thank you for that answer

[45:10] so let me ask you this then who

[45:13] who handles the

[45:16] the the audits of that because

[45:18] as we saw on the board right

[45:20] somebody has got an exemption

[45:22] for you know40 hours but then we

[45:24] see a you know a citizen in

[45:26] that area pulls google up and

[45:27] says OK great I can show up at

[45:28] this time and that's not the

[45:30] that's not the actual time

[45:32] because it differs and so is

[45:34] there a you you know is there a

[45:36] a quarterly an annual what does

[45:38] that look like in terms of

[45:40] either you all that are going

[45:41] out and making sure that

[45:42] if they've got an exemption

[45:44] they're at least at minimum

[45:45] following that exemption

[45:48] yes thank you for that question

[45:50] so our audit process we have

[45:52] you know really three different

[45:53] types of audits right now we

[45:54] have a field audit where we

[45:55] actually go and we visit every

[45:57] single licensed operator that

[45:58] is checking inventory it's

[46:00] checking business process etc.

[46:02] we have transactional audits

[46:03] that's looking at the

[46:04] transactions themselves and we

[46:05] have a full audit that's looking

[46:06] at kind of the the financial

[46:08] side as well and so historically

[46:09] those audits have always taken

[46:10] it more of a regulatory side to

[46:12] be sure that the transactions

[46:14] are being done properly so we're

[46:15] not giving any license to

[46:15] somebody who shouldn't have a

[46:16] license or that the money's

[46:16] being

[46:18] collected properly so that we

[46:20] aren't having fraud or abuse

[46:21] taking place and and I'll I'll

[46:22] give our audit team a ton of

[46:24] kudos from from that perspective

[46:25] in the last year they've

[46:26] actually caught over a million

[46:28] dollars and in fraud from

[46:28] several licensed operators who

[46:30] actually have criminal charges

[46:31] being in the process of being

[46:33] being charged where there's a

[46:34] a gap is something that we need

[46:36] to focus on and we do need to

[46:38] work on is being more adhering

[46:39] to double checking and and

[46:40] making sure that they're

[46:42] actually open the hours they do

[46:43] say they're going to be open and

[46:44] so I think that's finding off

[46:45] tabs that we we agree with and

[46:46] appreciate and then I think

[46:46] there's

[46:48] a secondary component of this

[46:50] that's later on in inA's

[46:51] recommendations is that we also

[46:52] need to be sure that we're

[46:54] giving citizens an avenue to

[46:55] contact us directly when they're

[46:56] having frustrations or

[46:57] challenges with licensed

[46:58] operators that may be happening

[47:00] outside of our audit process or

[47:01] things that we're missing so we

[47:02] can take that feedback and then

[47:04] actually do an investigation and

[47:05] then hold the license operators

[47:05] accountable

[47:12] from the accountability

[47:13] standpoint that you're that that

[47:15] you're just referencing you

[47:17] know how difficult is that for

[47:18] you whenever you're having to

[47:19] deal with the you know with the

[47:20] board

[47:22] and I guess my point is I

[47:24] mean I'm probably got to take

[47:25] personally got to take some of

[47:26] the blame as one of the creators

[47:28] of of you know ofervice Oklahoma

[47:30] we were trying to be to give a

[47:32] voice to the original250 that

[47:34] you know that you inherited we

[47:36] certainly wanted them to have a

[47:38] voice in this process but from a

[47:40] stick and carrot standpoint I

[47:42] mean what what kind of handcuffs

[47:44] do you feel like that you have

[47:46] as a result of a board that's

[47:48] approving ours yet you as a

[47:49] director is trying to

[47:52] seek consistency you know in

[47:53] statewide operations

[47:56] thank you for that question I

[47:57] think

[47:58] the relationship just in general

[48:00] with our licensed operators I

[48:01] think is complicated because we

[48:03] have on one side a a regulatory

[48:04] component of holding them

[48:05] accountable and making sure

[48:06] they're doing business in the

[48:07] right ways but then on the flip

[48:08] side we have a partnership

[48:09] relationship as well because

[48:10] they are our third party

[48:11] providers of our services and we

[48:12] need to be partners in doing

[48:14] that so I think and and

[48:15] historically if you go back to

[48:16] prepriorityervice Oklahoma that

[48:18] had been a contentious

[48:18] relationship and so I think

[48:20] there's an interesting dynamic

[48:21] in that relationship as a whole

[48:23] because historically they

[48:24] wouldn't go to the agency when

[48:25] they had a problem or an issue

[48:26] or a question they go straight

[48:27] to a legislator when they had a

[48:27] challenge

[48:28] and it is become there's a

[48:30] political aspect to it as well

[48:32] speaking on on the board

[48:34] itself I think there are

[48:34] challenges because you have two

[48:35] licenses

[48:37] statutorily you're required to

[48:38] have two licensed operators on

[48:40] our our board.urrently we have

[48:41] four of the nine members of our

[48:43] border licensed operators and so

[48:45] there is advantages of that

[48:46] because they can give good

[48:47] historical knowledge but then

[48:48] there's also potential conflicts

[48:49] when they're actually approving

[48:51] or disapproving hours or items

[48:52] that are specifically related to

[48:54] their business operations so

[48:55] there are definitely challenges

[48:55] when it comes to to that as a

[48:56] whole

[49:02] in the early days we had

[49:03] and I think you alluded to it

[49:06] prior toerce Oklahoma at tag

[49:08] agents that we refer to them as

[49:10] tag agents they were appointees

[49:11] or appointments by the

[49:12] legislature

[49:16] you might explain what the

[49:19] new process is now and how that

[49:21] works and to a degree I think

[49:24] we created somewhat of a of a

[49:26] franchise environment now as

[49:27] it relates to licensed operators

[49:30] thank you for that question so

[49:32] historically going way back in

[49:34] time yes they were senate

[49:34] appointees in their local

[49:36] communities that transition

[49:37] to be where they were appointed

[49:38] by the kwa taxxmission by the

[49:40] three tax commissioners they

[49:41] were appointed by them and

[49:42] they were government appointees

[49:43] they didn't actually own a

[49:44] license they didn't own a

[49:45] location they didn't have any

[49:47] actual tangible anything they

[49:49] could sell or or transition

[49:50] that may or may not have always

[49:52] been the case currently now

[49:53] with the patienttitient Service

[49:54] Oklahoma if they were in good

[49:56] standing whenervice Olamo was

[49:57] created so they're in good stand

[49:58] the tax mission service was

[49:59] created

[50:00] they issued a license or a

[50:02] franchise for a lack of a better

[50:03] word that they now have the

[50:04] ability to buy sell or transfer.

[50:06] they also have the ability to

[50:07] own more than one location at

[50:08] this point as well and so we

[50:10] have a handful of locations that

[50:11] that are a handful of operators

[50:12] that own multiple locations

[50:13] and there's definitely pros and

[50:14] cons of that I think you're

[50:16] seeing more consistency out of

[50:17] the operas that own multiple

[50:18] locations because they're

[50:19] getting operations more

[50:20] streamlined across the board but

[50:22] yes now they actually own a

[50:24] license that they can the

[50:25] board approves the seller the

[50:26] transfer and so the board is

[50:27] looking at to be sure that who

[50:28] they're they're selling or

[50:29] transferring

[50:30] that license to obviously has

[50:31] some sort of a business

[50:32] background in the financial

[50:34] means and and no criminal

[50:34] background history but it they

[50:36] have a lot more autonomy over

[50:37] what they can do with that

[50:37] license.

[50:42] revenues for a licensed operator

[50:44] facility really are directly

[50:45] tied to the level of production

[50:48] and of course we've got to be

[50:50] open to get production but we

[50:52] also have geographic restraints

[50:55] as it relates to production as

[50:56] well and so I think we're going

[50:58] to uncover some of that and some

[51:00] additional findings as we as we

[51:02] move forward.ddital questions by

[51:03] the body on finding number one

[51:06] seen no director where you can

[51:07] take us to finding number2.

[51:10] thank you Mr chairirman. I'd ask

[51:12] that you recognize Lylewalters

[51:12] for presentation of the report's

[51:13] second finding.

[51:18] Yeah you recognize

[51:20] thank you Mr chairirman

[51:24] Finding two Oklahoma offers

[51:25] greater access to driver's

[51:26] licensing services than similar

[51:27] sized states

[51:30] throughout this report the term

[51:32] credentials will be used as an

[51:34] inclusive term for all real Ids,

[51:36] photo Ids and driver's licenses

[51:37] that are issued by

[51:38] aerviceokklahoma or a licensed

[51:39] oper relocation.

[51:42] Oklahoma statutes state that

[51:44] every county should have at

[51:45] least one location from which

[51:46] citizens can obtain credentials

[51:50] with265 total locations

[51:51] statewide Oklahoma far exceeds

[51:53] statutory recommendations. These

[51:54] locations serve approximately

[51:57] 12,000 Oklahomans per location

[52:01] by comparison Louisiana has 137

[52:02] locations each of which

[52:04] serves27,000 people while Oregon

[52:06] has one location per60,000

[52:07] citizens.

[52:11] the trend of greater access

[52:12] extends to the county level as

[52:15] well bothth Oklahoma and Tulsa

[52:17] County serve fewer residents per

[52:19] location than similar populated

[52:19] counties nationwide.

[52:24] while Oklahoma has a relatively

[52:26] high number of credential

[52:28] issuing locations compared to

[52:30] similarly populated states and

[52:32] counties the number of locations

[52:34] alone does not indicate whether

[52:36] capacity aligns with demand to

[52:38] better evaluate workload, Loft

[52:39] compared the number of

[52:40] credentials issued by Service

[52:42] Oklahoma locations and licensed

[52:43] operators

[52:46] Edmundd has six total locations

[52:48] ive of which are private. Theer

[52:50] of humble location produces half

[52:51] of the total volume of

[52:52] credentials issued for the

[52:53] entire city

[52:55] they complete this task which

[52:57] is5 employees which is an

[53:00] equivalent of4,699 credentials

[53:01] issued per person

[53:04] in contrast licensed operators

[53:06] employ at least 35 people and

[53:08] issued between68 and1,038

[53:10] credentials per person

[53:12] andeddmmond despite having

[53:14] multiple private options,

[53:15] Oklahomans overwhelmingly choose

[53:16] the state run facility for their

[53:17] credentials

[53:21] usingeddmund in another example

[53:23] these locations are by statute

[53:24] too close to one another statute

[53:26] prohibits licensed operators

[53:27] from being located within a

[53:30] three mile linear radius of one

[53:32] another a provision of law that

[53:34] was enacted in 1987. Loft found

[53:36] numerous instances of locations

[53:37] that are in violation of the

[53:38] statute in Duncan, Oklahoma

[53:41] City, Enid Chickashay moreore

[53:44] Purcell Lexington, hawnee Tulsa

[53:45] and Yukon just to name a few

[53:50] we see a similar contrast and

[53:52] workload betweenurface Oklahoma

[53:53] and licensed operators in both

[53:55] smaller towns and rural areas

[53:56] eachach town listed on this

[54:00] slideerce Oklahoma locations

[54:01] consistently keep pace with

[54:02] their private counterparts with

[54:04] fewer employees in lawwton

[54:06] andennid the private locations

[54:08] issued more credentials with

[54:10] more employees and Chickasha

[54:11] andlin the servicevice Oklahoma

[54:12] location outperforms their

[54:14] private counterparts and

[54:16] transactions with and with fewer

[54:17] employees bartlesville is the

[54:18] only

[54:20] town analyzed where a private

[54:22] location consistently outpaces

[54:23] its public partner

[54:26] a caveat to this information is

[54:28] that this is only measuring

[54:29] credentialing services and does

[54:30] not consider the number of

[54:32] vehicle registrations and tags

[54:34] that each location prepares

[54:36] while this slide shows that

[54:38] state run locations produce more

[54:39] credentials it is not an

[54:41] exhaustive list of services that

[54:44] licensed operators provide but

[54:45] what it does show is that

[54:47] Oklahomans have more than one

[54:48] option in most places in the

[54:50] state which is done by design

[54:52] even if it violates the three

[54:53] mile statue

[54:53] how

[54:56] the market may be oversaturated

[54:57] with too many locations for the

[54:58] number of people they are

[54:59] servicing year in and year out.

[55:04] Serface Oklahoma is statutorily

[55:05] required to contract with a

[55:07] third party consultant to

[55:08] address the profitability of

[55:10] licensed operators in a report

[55:11] called the costst model analysis

[55:14] in2024 the consulting company

[55:16] addressed the need for

[55:17] additional locations in

[55:17] underserved areas of the state

[55:22] in this report they recommended

[55:24] the use of a decision matrix to

[55:25] determine the need for

[55:26] additional service locations

[55:28] this report placed emphasis on

[55:30] distance between locations as a

[55:32] way to determine if new branches

[55:34] were needed. The report stated

[55:36] that the goal should be for

[55:38] every Oklahoman to be within 1f

[55:39] minutes of a service location.

[55:42] the2024 cost model analysis

[55:44] states that the drive time

[55:46] between service locations should

[55:48] be 1f minutes if the service

[55:50] area for each licensed operator

[55:52] is 15 minutes and the drive

[55:53] between service locations is

[55:55] also 1f minutes then an

[55:56] overlapping service map is

[55:57] created

[56:00] the costs model analysis should

[56:02] have set a goal of at least 30

[56:04] minute drive time between perser

[56:06] locations to ensure that

[56:08] overlapping service areas are

[56:08] are eliminated as much as

[56:09] possible

[56:12] under the current recommendation

[56:13] the decision matrix will

[56:14] oversupply the market with

[56:16] licensed operators to service

[56:18] areas that are already serviced.

[56:20] This oversaturation will cause a

[56:22] low residence per location ratio

[56:24] that may be hampering the

[56:26] state's ability to cost control

[56:27] delivery of services

[56:27] therefore

[56:30] the board should determine the

[56:31] average workload to be managed

[56:33] by the licensed operator in each

[56:36] county if the board were to set

[56:38] a standard resident perlocation

[56:40] metric it would assist in

[56:41] determining with the appropriate

[56:42] number of operators needed to

[56:44] serve Oklahomans without

[56:45] sacrificing customer

[56:45] satisfaction

[56:48] it could be determined that

[56:50] Oklahoma should have at least

[56:52] one location in every county and

[56:53] the state would have a total

[56:56] of77 service locations this

[56:57] would place Oklahoma between

[56:59] Louisiana and oregon in terms of

[57:00] per capita service locations

[57:04] with one location per42,857

[57:05] driving age residents

[57:10] c cor ding to Service Oklahoma

[57:11] Oklahomans will visit a licensed

[57:12] operator or serviceokklahoma

[57:14] location to obtain a credential

[57:15] once every4.75 years.

[57:18] as another option if the board

[57:20] were to set the number of

[57:23] residents per location at50,000

[57:24] Oklahoma would need just 126

[57:26] licensed operators as opposed to

[57:30] the current234 which is a46%

[57:30] reduction in current locations.

[57:34] usings current population data

[57:35] each location would serve

[57:38] about26,190 residents which

[57:40] would retain access in terms of

[57:42] people served per location this

[57:44] would be possible because there

[57:46] are63 counties which have fewer

[57:47] than50,000 residents that could

[57:48] be served with just one licensed

[57:51] operator. The remaining63

[57:53] locations would service the 14en

[57:53] most populous counties.

[57:58] Mr chairman that concludes our

[57:59] presentation of the report's

[57:59] second finding.

[58:04] Director Du like a response

[58:10] thank you. Service Oklaohomo

[58:11] agrees with the law finding

[58:13] number two that our state runn

[58:14] and lighted operating network it

[58:16] it does provide broad access to

[58:17] driver's license services across

[58:19] both urban and rural communities

[58:21] and that size and geographic

[58:22] reach of the network really I

[58:24] think does help reduce burden

[58:25] and preserve really inperson

[58:26] access throughout the state

[58:28] what I I think the first thing

[58:30] I'd say is if if we started from

[58:32] scratch today and and we were

[58:34] able to depict where we'd have

[58:35] locations our footprint would

[58:36] look very different than what we

[58:37] we have existing

[58:40] and I think that you know

[58:42] it's it is part of the challenge

[58:43] of how do we optimize our

[58:45] footprint when we have license

[58:46] holders that hold a license now

[58:47] that they have a value to that

[58:49] they can buy, sell and transfer.

[58:50] there is a mechanism for the

[58:52] state to purchase those back if

[58:53] the operator wants to but they

[58:54] don't have to take advantage of

[58:55] that mechanism and so I mean

[58:56] there is challenges for us to

[58:57] look at how we are going to

[58:59] optimize that footprint it is

[59:00] something that is in our our

[59:02] strategic plan is to take a look

[59:03] and and at least provide the

[59:05] board with what we think is the

[59:06] optimized footprint and where

[59:07] specific locations should and

[59:08] shouldn't be

[59:10] now it's up to the board whether

[59:11] or not they want to take action

[59:13] and actually try to help

[59:14] drive towards that plan but I

[59:14] think that's that's part of the

[59:17] challenge that we do have I

[59:18] do think what we're trying to do

[59:20] too with the performance fund

[59:20] and and we'll talk about a

[59:22] little bit later is the

[59:24] performance funds metrics are

[59:25] designed quantitative metrics to

[59:26] be sure that it a licensed

[59:27] operator is serving the needs of

[59:28] the community that they're at

[59:29] and so there's kind of two

[59:30] components of that they both had

[59:32] motor vehicle metric they have

[59:33] to meet as well as a driver's

[59:34] license metric they have to meet

[59:36] to get performance fund dollars

[59:37] it really is designed to help

[59:37] r

[59:40] ural operators stay in business

[59:41] or be more profitable

[59:42] considering that the number one

[59:43] indicator for a a operator to be

[59:44] successful is foot traffic and

[59:46] obviously if you were in aokka

[59:47] you're gonna have less foot

[59:48] traffic than if you're in

[59:49] Oklahoma City. but the

[59:50] metrics are really designed

[59:52] there's two different sides of

[59:53] those metrics that is a local

[59:54] component of are you serving

[59:55] your vocal town or city that

[59:56] you're located as well as a

[59:58] county metric are you serving

[59:59] the surrounding communities as

[1:00:00] well because not every town in

[1:00:01] every county has a licensed

[1:00:02] operator and so we're trying to

[1:00:04] make sure that they really are

[1:00:06] serving their communities and

[1:00:07] I think that the number of of

[1:00:07] locations

[1:00:10] we do far out outs outpace

[1:00:12] and exceed our peer states

[1:00:13] but I do think it is an

[1:00:14] opportunity for us to

[1:00:16] potentially look at how we can

[1:00:17] use the existing infrastructure

[1:00:18] knowing the challenges of

[1:00:20] reducing or optimizing that

[1:00:21] infrastructure in the

[1:00:22] legislature this last

[1:00:24] legislative session is I think

[1:00:25] testing the waters in that and

[1:00:26] so as of July 1 of next year umm

[1:00:27] you'll be able to get a

[1:00:29] cosmetology license at any one

[1:00:32] of our265 locations across the

[1:00:34] state far increasing the

[1:00:34] accessibility of those services

[1:00:36] to Oklahomans that didn't have

[1:00:37] that access previously so I do

[1:00:37] think there is

[1:00:39] an opportunity to make the state

[1:00:41] as a whole more efficient by

[1:00:42] using an existing infrastructure

[1:00:44] and I think there's also a

[1:00:46] philosophical question that

[1:00:47] atervicesokklahohoma we have of

[1:00:49] the legislature and really

[1:00:50] want to partner to understand

[1:00:52] whether the legislature wants us

[1:00:54] to have a a smaller and more

[1:00:55] efficient footprint that really

[1:00:56] meets the needs or if we want to

[1:00:58] have a more locations with more

[1:01:00] accessibility that may cost more

[1:01:01] but may provide more

[1:01:02] accessibility to citizens and I

[1:01:04] think we're really stuck between

[1:01:05] a hard place and would love to

[1:01:06] know the thoughts of the

[1:01:06] legislature on that because we

[1:01:07] repeatedly do get

[1:01:09] requests from legislators and

[1:01:10] constituents wanting additional

[1:01:12] licensed operators in their

[1:01:14] communities that has a tough

[1:01:14] balance for us to kind of strike

[1:01:18] questions

[1:01:20] senator haste

[1:01:22] thank you Mr chairirman.

[1:01:27] and I wasn't quite clear on this

[1:01:29] did you say you have presented

[1:01:31] to the board your

[1:01:34] recommendations as far as

[1:01:35] basically if you were starting

[1:01:36] over this is what it would look

[1:01:37] like or is that something you

[1:01:38] plan to do?

[1:01:40] thank you for that question I

[1:01:42] think that's something that's

[1:01:43] part of our strategic plan that

[1:01:44] we plan to do. I think one of

[1:01:46] the big pieces of that is we

[1:01:47] wanted to get through the real

[1:01:48] Id deadline which we knew was

[1:01:49] going to have a massive surge of

[1:01:50] traffic to really understand

[1:01:51] what business as usual looks

[1:01:54] like from a a traffic and a need

[1:01:55] perspective and so that's

[1:01:55] something that we're in the

[1:01:56] process of working on as part of

[1:01:57] our sure plan that will present

[1:01:58] to the board in the future

[1:02:02] follow up follow up so based on

[1:02:04] the s what's in place right

[1:02:06] now from a governor at

[1:02:08] standpoint you present this

[1:02:12] to the board and then over40% of

[1:02:14] the board is represented by

[1:02:17] licensed operators which would

[1:02:20] call into question would they

[1:02:22] vote to support reducing the

[1:02:23] number of licensed operators

[1:02:23] correct?

[1:02:27] thank you for that question

[1:02:28] again I I don't I don't want to

[1:02:29] speak for the board but I'll

[1:02:30] tell you that it historically

[1:02:32] it's been a combination of

[1:02:34] things if there's a licensed

[1:02:34] operator that's near their

[1:02:36] existing operations they may not

[1:02:37] want to have a licensed operator

[1:02:39] next to them if they want to

[1:02:40] have more than one licensed

[1:02:41] operator they probably do want

[1:02:42] more operators and so there is a

[1:02:44] an inherent conflict of in

[1:02:45] that decision making process

[1:02:49] question from myself or more

[1:02:49] of a point but

[1:02:53] I think that the more we look at

[1:02:54] this one couple concerns I have

[1:02:57] with this report is is this and

[1:02:58] this is maybe kind of directed

[1:03:00] at loft and you'll kind of touch

[1:03:02] on it a little bit but your

[1:03:04] comparing apples to oranges it's

[1:03:06] my understanding that the SOK

[1:03:08] locations only provide driver's

[1:03:09] licenses is that correct you're

[1:03:11] not writing tags you're not

[1:03:13] transferring titles or anything

[1:03:14] like that whereas these other

[1:03:16] facilities are this is only

[1:03:18] making up about 10 or 15% of the

[1:03:19] work they do and to try to you

[1:03:19] know

[1:03:22] again this hearing is turning

[1:03:23] into things it's like we need to

[1:03:24] get rid of a bunch of Lo's

[1:03:26] and that's very very concerning

[1:03:27] to me because I don't want to be

[1:03:29] like oregon where I have to pay

[1:03:32] someone to go sit in line to

[1:03:34] wait 9 hours to get access and

[1:03:35] maybe y'all guys up here in the

[1:03:38] city and up here in Tulsa maybe

[1:03:40] y'all are ok with24 minutes but

[1:03:41] I've never waited more than5

[1:03:44] minutes at a tag agency ever in

[1:03:47] my life and so I'm really

[1:03:48] confused about where we were

[1:03:49] tracking this data, maybe that's

[1:03:49] the norm

[1:03:52] up here in the city maybe

[1:03:54] that's the norm forerce Oklahoma

[1:03:56] but that's not the norm in

[1:03:56] southwest Oklahoma when you go

[1:03:58] to cash or when you go to

[1:04:00] Granfield or Frederick, Oklahoma

[1:04:02] you know you're walking in you

[1:04:03] know him by name, you're walking

[1:04:04] in there and you're waiting 3

[1:04:05] to4 minutes if someone else is

[1:04:06] working and you're getting done

[1:04:07] you're getting out of there you

[1:04:08] spend less than 10 minutes in

[1:04:10] the whole the whole office and

[1:04:12] so that's where I'm kind of

[1:04:14] confused and concerned with and

[1:04:16] and I guess what the intent

[1:04:18] I'm a little bit worried about

[1:04:19] the intent especially starting

[1:04:19] saying that we want to have

[1:04:22] less access points. I mean my

[1:04:23] constituents every time I hear

[1:04:26] is we do not want to spend hours

[1:04:28] of our day interacting with

[1:04:29] government they want to go in

[1:04:30] there and get efficiency and so

[1:04:32] I know from at least from this

[1:04:33] legislator's point of view,

[1:04:34] maybe this isn't even a question

[1:04:36] just more of a pontification but

[1:04:37] from this legislator's point of

[1:04:39] view is I would absolutely thank

[1:04:40] the legislative intent would

[1:04:42] continue to make sure we have an

[1:04:44] ample amount of service

[1:04:45] locations ensuring that all

[1:04:48] 77 counties in Oklahoma are

[1:04:50] covered not there there are

[1:04:52] places in Oklahoma outside of

[1:04:54] Tulsa and Oklahoma City so with

[1:04:55] that do we have any other

[1:04:55] questions

[1:04:57] we move on to finding number 3

[1:05:02] thank you Mr chairirman. I'd ask

[1:05:04] that you recognize David

[1:05:06] Melendez for presentation of the

[1:05:07] report's last finding.

[1:05:12] finding thank you Mr Chairman.

[1:05:14] Finding three Oklahoma has the

[1:05:15] 10th highest driver's license

[1:05:16] fees.

[1:05:19] Loft compared state's costs of

[1:05:20] obtaining a first time driver's

[1:05:22] license renewing a driver's

[1:05:24] license obtaining a first time

[1:05:25] real ID and renewing a real ID

[1:05:28] and three of these categories

[1:05:29] Oklahoma is the 10th most

[1:05:29] expensive state.

[1:05:32] in one category the cost of a

[1:05:34] first time driver's license

[1:05:35] Oklahoma is the eth most

[1:05:35] expensive.

[1:05:38] this map groups the annualized

[1:05:40] costs of obtaining a real ID for

[1:05:41] the first time into4 price

[1:05:41] brackets

[1:05:45] less than5 dollars a year,5

[1:05:48] dollars to $8 a year,8 to12

[1:05:48] dollars a year and $12 or more a

[1:05:49] year

[1:05:52] states in the less than5 dollars

[1:05:54] bracket include Texas, Kansas

[1:05:55] and New Mexico.

[1:05:58] states in the5 dollars to $8

[1:06:00] bracket include Colorado,

[1:06:00] Missouri and Arkansas.

[1:06:04] Oklahoma falls in the $8 to12

[1:06:06] dollars bracket along with

[1:06:07] states such as, New York and

[1:06:07] Alabama.

[1:06:11] Finally states in the tw2

[1:06:12] dollars or more bracket include

[1:06:13] Minnesota, Washington and

[1:06:13] pennsylvania.

[1:06:17] this graph shows that the

[1:06:18] average annualized cost to renew

[1:06:20] a real ID is7 dollars63 cents

[1:06:24] Oklahoma's annualized cost 9

[1:06:25] dollars63 cents is2 dollars

[1:06:25] more.

[1:06:28] to the right of the dotted line

[1:06:30] representing the national

[1:06:32] average. you see the annualized

[1:06:33] costs in five of the most

[1:06:34] expensive states including

[1:06:35] Oklahoma

[1:06:37] to the left of the dotted line

[1:06:38] you see the analyzed cost and

[1:06:39] five of the least expensive

[1:06:39] states.

[1:06:44] Loft's comparison of other

[1:06:44] states and analysis of

[1:06:46] Oklahoma's model identified

[1:06:47] three factors contributing the

[1:06:47] higher cost.

[1:06:49] first,

[1:06:52] Oklahoma uses a hybrid system in

[1:06:54] which private businesses

[1:06:54] retain40% of license fees.

[1:06:58] secondcond, not whole licensed

[1:07:00] operators are profitable and the

[1:07:01] state subsidizes some of these

[1:07:01] businesses.

[1:07:04] hi rd the amount of credential

[1:07:06] issuing locations prevents some

[1:07:07] locations from operating

[1:07:08] efficiently and potential

[1:07:10] conflicts with the light within

[1:07:11] the licensed operator governance

[1:07:12] structure do not incentivize

[1:07:13] correction.

[1:07:16] a licensed operator is

[1:07:17] compensated for the processing

[1:07:19] of credentials by retaining40%

[1:07:20] of the state fee for each

[1:07:21] credential that they issue.

[1:07:23] the state receives the

[1:07:23] remaining60%.

[1:07:26] the state receives the full fee

[1:07:28] for credentials issued at

[1:07:28] Serviceokklahoma locations.

[1:07:32] Oklahoma is in a limited group

[1:07:34] of states that allow private

[1:07:36] businesses to issue all

[1:07:38] credentials specifically initial

[1:07:39] issuances of licenses and

[1:07:39] mailidds

[1:07:42] eight states allow private

[1:07:44] businesses to issue first time

[1:07:46] credentials.7 of these states

[1:07:47] have hybrid models in which both

[1:07:48] private and public offices issue

[1:07:49] licenses.

[1:07:52] Ohio is unique and having only

[1:07:53] private businesses issue

[1:07:53] credentials

[1:07:56] of the seven states that have

[1:07:58] hybrid systems all but Oklahoma

[1:08:00] allow private vendors to charge

[1:08:01] a convenience fee in addition to

[1:08:03] the state fee. This fee allows

[1:08:04] vendors to generate additional

[1:08:05] revenue.

[1:08:08] here the state inconvenience

[1:08:10] fees are compared for five of

[1:08:12] the six convenience fee states

[1:08:14] of the six states that allow

[1:08:15] convenience fees,5 have cheaper

[1:08:16] state fees in Oklahoma before

[1:08:17] the convenience fee is added.

[1:08:20] Only one of these five states,

[1:08:22] Alaska, becomes more expensive

[1:08:23] than Oklahoma when factoring in

[1:08:23] convenience fees.

[1:08:28] in Oklahoma's current model of

[1:08:30] credential issuances not all

[1:08:30] licensed operators are

[1:08:31] profitable.

[1:08:34] this was highlighted in a third

[1:08:35] party consultant's2022 market

[1:08:37] study which identified a lack of

[1:08:38] profitability among licensed

[1:08:39] operators and more rural areas

[1:08:42] this report made several

[1:08:44] recommendations to address this

[1:08:46] issue including the creation of

[1:08:47] a performance fund to subsidize

[1:08:48] licensed operators in counties

[1:08:49] with fewer than 100,000

[1:08:50] residents.

[1:08:53] the performance fund provides

[1:08:54] payments to licensed operators

[1:08:56] and eligible counties that meet

[1:08:57] performance metrics set by

[1:08:57] Service Oklahoma

[1:09:00] and at525 a licensed operator

[1:09:02] that met both performance

[1:09:03] metrics was eligible for a

[1:09:04] maximum payment calculated as

[1:09:05] follows

[1:09:08] first, each eligible county is

[1:09:09] allocated50,000 dollars.

[1:09:12] if a county has multiple license

[1:09:15] operators78 cents is multiplied

[1:09:16] by the county's population and

[1:09:17] added to the50,000.

[1:09:20] the sum of these two amounts is

[1:09:21] then divided by the number of

[1:09:21] licensed operators in the county

[1:09:24] if a county has one licensed

[1:09:26] operator they're eligible for a

[1:09:27] maximum of50,000 dollars.

[1:09:32] in FI25 Serviceokklahoma

[1:09:34] budgeted about5.1 million

[1:09:35] dollars for the performance fund

[1:09:37] of that 3.6 million was budgeted

[1:09:39] to provide50,000 dollars to each

[1:09:39] eligible county

[1:09:43] the remaining 1.5 million was

[1:09:44] budgeted to pay for the78 cents

[1:09:46] per resident payment in eligible

[1:09:47] counties with multiple licensed

[1:09:48] operators

[1:09:53] t we en FI24 and FI25, the

[1:09:54] performance fund disbursed

[1:09:55] about6.1 million dollars to

[1:09:56] licensed operators

[1:10:00] 97% of this5.9 million was

[1:10:02] dispersed to licensed operators

[1:10:04] for metricbas payouts. The

[1:10:06] remaining 3% reimbursed licensed

[1:10:07] operators for reduced cost motor

[1:10:08] vehicle registrations for

[1:10:09] disabled veterans

[1:10:13] the counties that received the

[1:10:14] most from the performance fund

[1:10:17] in FY25appotawatomi and Wagoner,

[1:10:18] two of the most populous

[1:10:20] counties eligible for metricbas

[1:10:22] payments. This reflects the se8

[1:10:23] cents per resident component of

[1:10:25] the formula which directs larger

[1:10:26] payments to more populous

[1:10:28] counties. This may not align

[1:10:29] with the fund's original purpose

[1:10:31] of supporting licensed operators

[1:10:31] in less populated areas

[1:10:34] there are 3 counties depicted

[1:10:36] above the 100,000 metricbas

[1:10:38] payout eligibility threshold

[1:10:39] represented by the red line

[1:10:42] Ro ger s County the blue dot to

[1:10:44] the right of the red line has a

[1:10:45] population estimated to have

[1:10:47] exceeded 100,000 residents but

[1:10:48] remained eligible because it was

[1:10:49] below the threshold in the most

[1:10:50] recent census

[1:10:52] Comanche and comedian are

[1:10:54] depicted but solely receive

[1:10:56] reimbursements for reduced cost

[1:10:57] registrations for disabled

[1:10:57] veterans

[1:11:00] because the state has invested

[1:11:01] in maintaining licensed

[1:11:03] operators business operations

[1:11:04] lofton analyze the efficiency of

[1:11:06] license operators inervice

[1:11:07] Oklahoma to assess the return on

[1:11:07] that investment.

[1:11:10] this analysis considered only

[1:11:12] credential issuance and did not

[1:11:13] account for other services

[1:11:14] licensed operators provide such

[1:11:15] as vehicle registrations.

[1:11:19] Law found that an FY26 licensed

[1:11:21] operators employed 86% of the

[1:11:22] state's credentialing staff but

[1:11:24] issued about60% of the state's

[1:11:25] credentials

[1:11:28] as a result Service Oklahoma

[1:11:28] staff issued about four times as

[1:11:30] many credentials per FTE as

[1:11:31] licensed operator staff.

[1:11:34] and the subset of markets loft

[1:11:35] analyze and finding two

[1:11:36] Serviceokklahoma staff

[1:11:38] represented here by the blue

[1:11:40] squares issued credentials more

[1:11:41] efficiently in six of the e

[1:11:41] markets.

[1:11:46] licensed operators are governed

[1:11:47] by theerviceokklahoma operator

[1:11:47] Board.

[1:11:50] the board has 9 members the

[1:11:52] director ofervice Oklahoma two

[1:11:54] gubernatorial appointees and 3

[1:11:55] appointments each from the

[1:11:55] leaders of the senate and the

[1:11:56] house

[1:11:58] one senate appointee and one

[1:12:00] house appointee must be licensed

[1:12:01] operators

[1:12:04] how statute does not prohibit

[1:12:05] additional licensed operators

[1:12:06] from serving on the board,

[1:12:08] meaning a majority of the

[1:12:08] appointed members could be

[1:12:09] licensed operators

[1:12:12] this structure creates a

[1:12:13] potential conflict of interest

[1:12:14] because licensed operators serve

[1:12:15] on the board that makes

[1:12:16] decisions directly affecting

[1:12:17] license operator business.

[1:12:22] Board members are responsible

[1:12:23] for making decisions involving

[1:12:24] licensed operator performance

[1:12:26] standards customer service

[1:12:28] requirements and the renewal or

[1:12:29] termination of licensed operator

[1:12:29] licenses.

[1:12:32] O ft ' s analysis of credentials

[1:12:34] issued per FTEM finding two and

[1:12:36] this finding demonstrate a

[1:12:37] performance gap betweenervice

[1:12:38] Oklahoma and licensed operators

[1:12:41] Loft also found no existing

[1:12:42] review of licensed operator

[1:12:44] customer service which led Voff

[1:12:46] to conduct its own analysis

[1:12:47] presented in finding one.

[1:12:50] Finally law found that the board

[1:12:51] is continued to approve new

[1:12:53] license operator locations even

[1:12:54] though the existing number of

[1:12:55] locations has resulted in some

[1:12:56] areas being overserved.

[1:13:00] throughout this evaluation Loft

[1:13:02] identified recommendations for

[1:13:04] the agency and also policy

[1:13:06] changes for the legislature to

[1:13:07] consider. I will highlight just

[1:13:08] a few of those recommendations

[1:13:10] here but the full list is

[1:13:11] located at the end of the

[1:13:13] executive summary and again on

[1:13:15] page 35 of the report the

[1:13:18] legislature may consider vesting

[1:13:20] full operational and regulatory

[1:13:21] authority ofervice Oklahoma to

[1:13:21] the director

[1:13:24] converting the role of theervice

[1:13:25] Oklahoma operator board to be

[1:13:25] advisory in nature

[1:13:28] dedicating the use of the

[1:13:30] licensed operator performance

[1:13:31] fund to subsidizing

[1:13:34] licensed operator locations that

[1:13:35] do not generate enough customer

[1:13:36] transactions to be profitable

[1:13:38] with the goal of ensuring there

[1:13:40] is a minimum of one licensing

[1:13:41] facility in each county

[1:13:44] and empowering the board to make

[1:13:45] decisions based on the reported

[1:13:46] financial position of licensed

[1:13:47] operators

[1:13:51] Loft also had recommendations

[1:13:53] for Service Oklahoma the agency

[1:13:55] should assess the ideal ratio of

[1:13:56] licensed operators to population

[1:14:00] during unannounced operational

[1:14:01] audits record the posted

[1:14:02] business hours and validate

[1:14:04] those hours with those reported

[1:14:06] to serve as Oklahoma implement a

[1:14:08] customer feedback form on his

[1:14:10] website and include a summary of

[1:14:12] that feedback in its annual

[1:14:13] reportquire all licensed

[1:14:15] operators to use the online que

[1:14:16] system used byervice Oklahoma

[1:14:18] with wait times of all locations

[1:14:21] viewable onervice Oklahoma's

[1:14:23] website and issue vehicle

[1:14:24] registrations at Allservice

[1:14:26] Oklahoma locations

[1:14:27] Mr chairman

[1:14:31] thank you director would you

[1:14:31] like to

[1:14:34] talk about any of finding 3.

[1:14:38] thank you Mr chairirman so

[1:14:39] think on finding three

[1:14:40] specifically is around having

[1:14:42] the 10th highest expense or cost

[1:14:44] to a citizen of obtaining a

[1:14:45] driver's license I think a

[1:14:47] couple of things I I'd point out

[1:14:50] is one that's that cost to

[1:14:50] exists in the statutorily set

[1:14:52] that's something we don't set

[1:14:53] atervice Oklahoma and that has

[1:14:55] not changed since it has not

[1:14:56] increased or decreased since

[1:14:58] we've been in existence I'd also

[1:15:00] say that the percent that

[1:15:01] goes to the state doesn't all go

[1:15:02] toerce Oklahoma it actually get

[1:15:04] s apportioned to a variety of

[1:15:06] different mechanisms so it's not

[1:15:07] as if we're retaining and using

[1:15:08] that full amount in in in our

[1:15:11] budget and so we we do agree

[1:15:12] with the the findings of finding

[1:15:14] three as far as the the

[1:15:15] methodology that they be

[1:15:16] performed that the the numbers

[1:15:18] do look like we have one of the

[1:15:19] higher costs for a citizen when

[1:15:20] it comes to obtaining a driver's

[1:15:22] license when it comes to the

[1:15:24] recommendations fromOft

[1:15:25] obviously I think the statutory

[1:15:26] or policy recommendations

[1:15:28] we'll leave those to the

[1:15:29] legislature to to make decisions

[1:15:31] we're happy to engage in any

[1:15:31] conversation and and would love

[1:15:32] to have

[1:15:34] further thoughts if if that's a

[1:15:36] path the legislation would like

[1:15:38] to go when it comes to the

[1:15:38] recommendations of Service

[1:15:39] Oklahoma we appreciate the

[1:15:40] thoughtfulness ofOft when it

[1:15:41] comes to to those

[1:15:42] recommendations

[1:15:44] I think there's several things

[1:15:45] in there that we have in

[1:15:46] progress or that I think we've

[1:15:48] previously committed to in in

[1:15:50] previous comments on findings of

[1:15:51] of making sure that we are

[1:15:52] improving our audits to take a

[1:15:53] closer look at the hours as well

[1:15:55] as the customer experience. I

[1:15:57] think taking a look at having

[1:15:58] an avenue for a citizen to give

[1:16:00] us direct feedback and making

[1:16:01] sure that we then are are

[1:16:01] properly investigating and

[1:16:02] documenting

[1:16:04] that as well and so I think

[1:16:06] there's a big takeaway for us is

[1:16:07] there's some areas in our audit

[1:16:08] process that we can improve as

[1:16:10] well when it comes to to

[1:16:11] offering motor vehicle

[1:16:13] services at our locations so

[1:16:15] right now we have we do offer

[1:16:16] motor vehicle services at just

[1:16:17] one location which is our

[1:16:18] Oklahoma City location and that

[1:16:20] has been a historically

[1:16:20] transferred from the tax

[1:16:21] commission so the tax commission

[1:16:22] had always offered motor vehicle

[1:16:24] services at their that location

[1:16:26] so we just continued that as as

[1:16:28] it has gone I think as we

[1:16:29] look at making services more

[1:16:31] consistent between a state runn

[1:16:32] location and a licensed operator

[1:16:34] having consistent services I

[1:16:35] think is important but I think

[1:16:36] it's also a not one size fits

[1:16:38] all and I think it's making sure

[1:16:40] that as we look at if we do add

[1:16:41] because I think something that

[1:16:42] we just experienced ourselves as

[1:16:44] we were doing site visits we are

[1:16:46] looking at our locations and we

[1:16:47] visited I think 3 or4 locations

[1:16:48] we visited4 locations and the

[1:16:50] four locations we visited a

[1:16:51] customer came into our location

[1:16:52] asking for motor vehicle

[1:16:53] services that we weren't

[1:16:54] providing and so we turned away

[1:16:56] a customer that could have got

[1:16:57] services if we're offering motor

[1:16:59] vehicle services but I don't

[1:17:00] think it's necessarily it's

[1:17:01] something that we need to take a

[1:17:02] further evaluation on and

[1:17:04] it definitely is not a a one

[1:17:05] size fits all because there's

[1:17:06] also locations that we are

[1:17:07] directly next door to the

[1:17:08] licensed operator and so it

[1:17:09] doesn't make sense for us to

[1:17:10] start offering motor vehicle

[1:17:12] services when we're right next

[1:17:13] door to somebody that

[1:17:14] because we don't want to create

[1:17:16] a a competitive nature between

[1:17:17] us and the licensed operators

[1:17:18] wouldn't this be a cohesive

[1:17:19] system that offers great

[1:17:19] experience for customers.

[1:17:24] question from the chair is

[1:17:28] is there any overall arching

[1:17:30] concerns from my background in

[1:17:32] utilities dealing with utilities

[1:17:34] and and being a part of

[1:17:36] everything from PBR to Btm like

[1:17:38] this conceptually looks a lot

[1:17:39] like cherry picking to me

[1:17:42] something that and and

[1:17:42] especially in the fact that if

[1:17:44] it's my if my understanding is

[1:17:46] correctO is only with the

[1:17:47] exception of the sevent2

[1:17:48] counties a little bit of money

[1:17:50] they get for basically a

[1:17:53] county small county subsidy

[1:17:54] predominantly all the revenue

[1:17:55] comes based on how much

[1:17:58] foot traffic how many how many

[1:17:59] interactions they have with the

[1:18:00] public and if they do good and

[1:18:02] they have more they make more

[1:18:03] money and if they don't they go

[1:18:05] out of business which is kind

[1:18:07] of the nature of our way we've

[1:18:08] structured our economy in this

[1:18:10] country. so my question is

[1:18:12] this is this not just an example

[1:18:14] of cherry picking where now like

[1:18:16] in in these metro areas like

[1:18:18] Lawton and Clinton and Oklahoma

[1:18:19] City and these bigger towns and

[1:18:20] bigger cities where they're

[1:18:22] coming in and setting up shop

[1:18:24] you know I think in lawton y'all

[1:18:25] are set up at the old highway

[1:18:25] patrol building

[1:18:28] isn't that limiting access

[1:18:30] points in a way by by coming in

[1:18:31] and taking off just the easy

[1:18:32] work and not having to really do

[1:18:34] much of the harder stuff I'm a

[1:18:35] little bit confused by that can

[1:18:37] you can you elaborate on that a

[1:18:38] little bit and conceptually

[1:18:40] where y'all are at and if y'all

[1:18:42] are looking at expansion thank

[1:18:44] you for that question so I'll

[1:18:46] answer the the last part of your

[1:18:47] conversation first is no we're

[1:18:48] not looking to expand locations

[1:18:50] we're continually looking to

[1:18:52] improve our our existing

[1:18:53] locations since we've really

[1:18:54] been in existence I think we've

[1:18:55] really only truly opened when it

[1:18:56] comes

[1:18:58] to a a competitor to a licensed

[1:19:00] opera who've really only opened

[1:19:01] one location and that was an

[1:19:02] anttlers and that was from a

[1:19:03] preexisting relationship and

[1:19:04] commitment the DPS had made to

[1:19:06] the county commissioners of

[1:19:08] Pushmataha County we have

[1:19:09] moved some of our other

[1:19:10] locations in different parts

[1:19:12] because of either lease

[1:19:12] agreements have expired or we

[1:19:13] found a better location in in

[1:19:14] that community where we're

[1:19:16] either moving further away from

[1:19:17] licensed operators were what

[1:19:18] made sense I tell you that I

[1:19:21] think long term are probably

[1:19:22] objective is that we'll have

[1:19:23] fewer locations and not more

[1:19:24] because there is communities

[1:19:25] that you mentioned that it

[1:19:25] probably doesn't make a ton of

[1:19:26] sense

[1:19:28] for us both to be in those

[1:19:29] markets especially now that

[1:19:31] we offer especially on the

[1:19:32] driver's license side a ton of

[1:19:34] similar services the only real

[1:19:36] two services that we offer that

[1:19:37] not every licensed operator's

[1:19:38] offering when it comes to

[1:19:40] driver's licenses at this point

[1:19:42] is well technically 3 is one

[1:19:44] reinstating a suspended or

[1:19:46] revoked license two is

[1:19:47] offering a drive test and that's

[1:19:49] both alad drive test but then

[1:19:51] also the commercialcdl drive

[1:19:53] test and so I think for us

[1:19:54] for us to be able to to your

[1:19:55] point open up more access for

[1:19:56] licensed

[1:19:58] op er ator s we need to solve

[1:19:58] the drive test problem first

[1:20:00] because if we do leave a

[1:20:01] community there then at times

[1:20:02] are vacant of a of a drive test

[1:20:04] opportunity and so there's

[1:20:05] things we're exploring when it

[1:20:06] comes to that when it comes to

[1:20:08] other locations that we've

[1:20:08] either opened or expanded it

[1:20:10] really is about so we opened

[1:20:12] two drive test centers one in

[1:20:13] Oklaho City and one in Tulsa to

[1:20:14] make drive tests more accessible

[1:20:16] again that's aer license

[1:20:16] operators aren't providing and

[1:20:19] it also allows us we provide

[1:20:20] a what we call a sweet six

[1:20:22] guarantee where no matter all se

[1:20:23] days of the week you get a

[1:20:24] driver's license a drive test on

[1:20:25] your birthday to be sure that

[1:20:25] we're really giving that

[1:20:28] that great experience for a 16

[1:20:28] year old and they're also

[1:20:30] looking at how can we offer

[1:20:32] bettercdl testing across the

[1:20:32] state. I think it's an area that

[1:20:34] right now is not to the level

[1:20:35] that we want it to be and it's

[1:20:36] vitally important for the

[1:20:37] economy and the infrastructure

[1:20:38] of our of our state and so

[1:20:40] looking to prove that but no

[1:20:42] we're not looking to to compete

[1:20:43] again we're trying to make a a

[1:20:44] consistent network that makes

[1:20:45] sense that serves the citizens

[1:20:46] and I think long term you'll see

[1:20:48] fewer service Oklahoma locations

[1:20:49] in some of those communities

[1:20:58] thank you Mr Chairman. I'd like

[1:21:00] to make a comment if I could and

[1:21:01] then ask the question

[1:21:02] ofervice Oklahoma

[1:21:06] just want to make a statement

[1:21:07] related to talking about that we

[1:21:10] have one of the higher

[1:21:12] driver's license fee I think

[1:21:14] it's important to note that ours

[1:21:16] is every 8 years is only one of

[1:21:17] the other states showing that

[1:21:19] it's every 8 years and so when

[1:21:21] you look at that per year but

[1:21:24] then also looking at say if

[1:21:25] that was every four years and

[1:21:26] you'd have to make a second trip

[1:21:29] in to get it to spend your

[1:21:31] time effort and cost to do it it

[1:21:32] really brings our costs down

[1:21:34] where it's it it's not that

[1:21:36] expensive at the end of the day

[1:21:39] but going back to the

[1:21:40] presentation and some of the

[1:21:42] comments and so forth made when

[1:21:43] you look at the governing board

[1:21:48] and where statutorily they're

[1:21:50] supposed to be at least you know

[1:21:54] two members of the LOs on

[1:21:56] their on that board which

[1:21:58] makes up just over20% of the

[1:21:59] board now there's

[1:22:02] four people on there so now

[1:22:04] you're over40% of the board

[1:22:06] potentially there's nothing to

[1:22:07] keep it where literally just

[1:22:08] about everybody could be a

[1:22:10] licensed operator from the pure

[1:22:13] appearance of potential

[1:22:14] conflict of interest

[1:22:17] do you see that as problematic

[1:22:18] where it at

[1:22:20] if we kept it the same where

[1:22:22] we're we would need to keep no

[1:22:24] more than two on there and then

[1:22:25] of course originally the when

[1:22:27] this was set up part of this was

[1:22:29] put in place so that from the

[1:22:30] experience standpoint that's

[1:22:33] there to make sure that's

[1:22:34] there but also we have an

[1:22:36] advisory board from the licensed

[1:22:37] operator just

[1:22:40] and I know I kind of rambled on

[1:22:41] it but what's your thoughts on

[1:22:44] that you know again from

[1:22:46] perception potential conflict of

[1:22:49] interest but also from truly the

[1:22:51] best way to move forward as we

[1:22:53] will be looking at to move more

[1:22:56] services into this from again

[1:22:57] birth certificate death

[1:22:59] certificates other types of

[1:23:01] licensings all those type things

[1:23:01] as we move forward

[1:23:05] thank you for that question

[1:23:08] so I'll say that I think

[1:23:10] especially early on it was

[1:23:12] really advantageous and an

[1:23:13] advantage to have licensed

[1:23:14] operators on our operator board

[1:23:15] because it really did educate

[1:23:16] the board as a whole because

[1:23:18] coming in as a board that had no

[1:23:20] knowledge or experience in the

[1:23:21] type of business that we do and

[1:23:21] so I think there's definitely

[1:23:22] some advantages it also does

[1:23:24] give a voice of a licensed

[1:23:26] operator so that they're not

[1:23:27] just hearing the one side from

[1:23:28] the from the agency so there's

[1:23:29] definitely I think pros of

[1:23:30] having licensed operators on the

[1:23:32] board there's also definitely

[1:23:33] conflicts of interest that

[1:23:35] arise every single day in the

[1:23:35] conversations that we have I

[1:23:36] mean as an

[1:23:38] example one of the licensed

[1:23:39] operators on the board purchased

[1:23:40] another operator a few months

[1:23:42] back and so they're on the board

[1:23:43] of making decisions and they

[1:23:44] recuse themselves they did

[1:23:45] everything properly but it does

[1:23:46] it does have conflicts that

[1:23:47] arise every day because they are

[1:23:48] making decisions and setting

[1:23:51] things in place to do what's

[1:23:52] potentially best for them and

[1:23:54] makes sense and what's best for

[1:23:55] them maybe what's best for the

[1:23:56] public may not be what's best

[1:23:57] for the public but also tell you

[1:23:59] that we've had carriership

[1:24:00] cario owners on our board time

[1:24:02] from time and they also have

[1:24:04] potential conflicts of interest

[1:24:05] considering that these are motor

[1:24:05] vehicle transactions that are

[1:24:06] being taken taken forth

[1:24:09] and etc. and so I I think

[1:24:10] we'd open a conversation of of

[1:24:12] what the the right structure

[1:24:13] looks like to have the best

[1:24:15] representation to ensure that

[1:24:15] we are are serving our citizens

[1:24:16] the best

[1:24:20] any other questions

[1:24:24] with that just a point of

[1:24:26] information or another se a

[1:24:29] squiliy I can't talk today from

[1:24:32] the chair and my now going on

[1:24:35] 9 years in the legislature

[1:24:38] I've taken tens of thousands of

[1:24:39] calls and meetings with

[1:24:40] constituents and I have never

[1:24:41] once

[1:24:44] again this is a point of

[1:24:45] information from one member I'm

[1:24:46] not speaking on behalf of the

[1:24:48] house even but just from one

[1:24:49] legislature I've never once

[1:24:51] heard any constituent complain

[1:24:53] about the cost no one's ever

[1:24:54] called me about the cost of our

[1:24:56] driver's license being48 cents

[1:24:59] higher than Minnesota's. What I

[1:25:00] have heard hundreds and hundreds

[1:25:02] of times in 9 years is

[1:25:06] especially in my community that

[1:25:08] is very transient and very

[1:25:09] because of fortill the nature of

[1:25:10] Fort Sill people move in from

[1:25:12] all over the country and live

[1:25:14] and settle in my my district and

[1:25:15] my home county of Comanche

[1:25:17] County. I've heard I've filled

[1:25:18] hundreds of calls of people

[1:25:20] telling me thank you for not

[1:25:22] being like California. I had one

[1:25:25] just three months ago from

[1:25:26] someone I went to college with

[1:25:30] was finally getting her Oklahoma

[1:25:31] driver's license moving it from

[1:25:32] California she was originally

[1:25:34] from Fresno and was just in awe

[1:25:36] that they were able to get her

[1:25:37] driver's license done in 30

[1:25:38] minutes from the time she walked

[1:25:40] in to the time she walked out

[1:25:42] comparing to that interaction

[1:25:44] that she had with the DMv in

[1:25:46] California. so if there's any

[1:25:48] of our licensed operators

[1:25:50] listening we I just want to tell

[1:25:51] them thank you for the work that

[1:25:53] they do because the constituents

[1:25:55] that I hear from it's all about

[1:25:56] how quick the interaction takes

[1:25:57] when they have to interact with

[1:25:58] their

[1:25:59] government. I've never heard

[1:26:02] them complain about us being47

[1:26:04] cents or 96 cents higher than

[1:26:06] some state4000 miles away so

[1:26:08] with that Mr chairirman do you

[1:26:09] have any more notes or

[1:26:09] anything you want to talk about?

[1:26:13] always have things to talk about

[1:26:14] but we what we probably should

[1:26:17] do is at least re give loft

[1:26:19] an opportunity to to wrap up

[1:26:21] their report followed by a final

[1:26:25] wrap up by by uhervice Oklahoma

[1:26:26] and then I'll conclude with

[1:26:27] comments

[1:26:30] thank you Mr chairman and thank

[1:26:31] you members of the committee for

[1:26:32] your time and attention to this

[1:26:34] report and I specifically want

[1:26:36] to thank Service Oklahoma they

[1:26:38] were a fantastic agency to

[1:26:40] work with extremely responsive

[1:26:42] to our request for information

[1:26:45] and we will continue the

[1:26:46] engagement when we do our follow

[1:26:48] up report in about a year from

[1:26:50] now but we did enjoy the

[1:26:51] experience of working with them

[1:26:52] re ctor Dole

[1:26:56] thank you Mr chairirman we just

[1:26:57] start and

[1:26:58] and thankrector Bertram and her

[1:27:00] team it's been it was a pleasure

[1:27:01] for us to work with the loft the

[1:27:03] loft team we respect and

[1:27:04] appreciate their process in in

[1:27:05] the final report and and I think

[1:27:06] we always welcome ways and areas

[1:27:10] that we can improve and so

[1:27:10] appreciate having an independent

[1:27:12] 3rd 3rd party take a look at

[1:27:14] what we can do to do better I

[1:27:16] I think I'd also you know

[1:27:17] hopefully this came across as

[1:27:18] our licensed operators are our

[1:27:20] partners and we we can't do our

[1:27:21] business without our our

[1:27:22] licensed operators and they are

[1:27:23] areab fantastic

[1:27:24] in all the ways in in the

[1:27:26] backbone of our services and so

[1:27:28] can thank them and appreciate

[1:27:29] them enough for the the services

[1:27:32] they provide on a daily basis

[1:27:32] and then really just want to

[1:27:34] thank and appreciate every

[1:27:35] legislator in this room. I think

[1:27:36] this was a chance to take a look

[1:27:38] of how we've been successful in

[1:27:39] in the the creation service

[1:27:41] Oklahoma and how are we doing in

[1:27:42] our first four years and as as

[1:27:44] employees number 1A and1B of

[1:27:46] Service Oklahoma we just really

[1:27:47] thank and and appreciate the

[1:27:48] trust and the partnership of of

[1:27:50] every member of this body we

[1:27:52] take what we do very seriously

[1:27:53] every day and we're extremely

[1:27:53] passionate about what we do and

[1:27:54] and can

[1:27:55] ' t thank you guys enough and

[1:27:56] and want to continue to to look

[1:27:58] for ways of of how we can

[1:27:58] continue to improveervice

[1:28:00] Oklahoma we'll never be a

[1:28:02] finished product and and want to

[1:28:03] continue to get better every

[1:28:04] single day and and Mr chairirman

[1:28:05] we we just appreciate the the

[1:28:06] conversation today and and look

[1:28:07] forward to to future

[1:28:07] conversations

[1:28:10] thank you very much for for

[1:28:12] wrapping that up what we do know

[1:28:14] is is that the way we provide

[1:28:16] these products and services in

[1:28:17] the state of Oklahoma has

[1:28:17] evolved over time

[1:28:20] but one thing that we don't

[1:28:22] want to lose sight on as a

[1:28:24] legislature and to to my vice

[1:28:26] chairman my co-chair's point

[1:28:28] huh yeah

[1:28:32] yeah my my co-chair's point

[1:28:33] these are main street

[1:28:36] businesses that we're talking

[1:28:37] about that you know all of us

[1:28:38] have constituents that either

[1:28:40] own or operate you know

[1:28:42] likely some of these facilities

[1:28:44] and they perform a valuable

[1:28:46] valuable service what we can

[1:28:50] do to to be more efficient

[1:28:52] would be you know something

[1:28:54] we should look at what we can do

[1:28:56] to be more consistent in how we

[1:28:58] provide these services whether

[1:29:00] it be operating hours or it will

[1:29:02] be whether it's functionality or

[1:29:03] whatever it is I think it's a

[1:29:04] partnership

[1:29:05] you know we're in a public

[1:29:08] private partnership now and I

[1:29:09] think it has a real opportunity

[1:29:11] to to be successful and to

[1:29:14] sustain these main street

[1:29:15] businesses of the light that the

[1:29:16] licensed operators have. Now

[1:29:18] what we do with natural

[1:29:20] attrition over time is certainly

[1:29:22] something this body should talk

[1:29:24] about and I I'd certainly

[1:29:26] agree that you know that

[1:29:28] we need to be providing those

[1:29:29] services to the most rural parts

[1:29:30] of Oklahoma to the most

[1:29:32] metropolitan parts of Oklahoma

[1:29:33] but it's got to be a business

[1:29:33] model that is

[1:29:36] successful and so what we'd

[1:29:38] like to do is get away from you

[1:29:40] know some a need to prop up

[1:29:44] businesses you know as a

[1:29:47] result of them not having the

[1:29:49] the the numbers you know

[1:29:52] to you know to be successful so

[1:29:53] if we do that through a

[1:29:54] better service standard if we do

[1:29:56] that more for consistency of

[1:29:57] operation or consistency in

[1:29:59] hours I think that makes

[1:30:02] sense but I'm for the long the

[1:30:04] long term viability of the

[1:30:07] licensed operator that's my goal

[1:30:09] I think the I think that the

[1:30:10] more we can have face to face

[1:30:14] operation in this era of of

[1:30:16] internet and datadriven

[1:30:18] society you know the better

[1:30:20] we can be with the front facing

[1:30:22] from the state of Oklahoma so

[1:30:24] certainly appreciate uhurface

[1:30:26] Oklahoma's willingness to

[1:30:30] support and aid and help the

[1:30:32] licensed operator and vice versa

[1:30:34] I think the the board makes

[1:30:36] sense perspectively if you know

[1:30:38] if that's if that changes in

[1:30:40] in some way it's certainly worth

[1:30:41] the worth discuss

[1:30:44] ion but in my time here since

[1:30:46] sinceerface Oklahoma was

[1:30:48] created with every year we see

[1:30:51] some sort of change in their

[1:30:53] legislation so you know it's you

[1:30:54] know just like many pieces of

[1:30:56] legislation that come through

[1:30:58] this body it's it's never

[1:31:00] perfect from day one and so

[1:31:03] it's always evolving I think

[1:31:04] you'll see us continue to have

[1:31:06] an interest in working with

[1:31:06] Service Oklahoma and our

[1:31:09] licensed operators to make it a

[1:31:10] better product for the citizens

[1:31:11] of Okla

[1:31:12] ho ma and so that's not a bad

[1:31:14] thing at all. want to thank both

[1:31:19] our representative you're

[1:31:19] recognized for comment

[1:31:24] thank you Mr chairirman just

[1:31:25] real quickly I just wanted to

[1:31:28] say that this is my last loft

[1:31:29] meeting

[1:31:30] as a member of

[1:31:36] I'm not sure where that applause

[1:31:39] came from but I'm gonna think it

[1:31:42] means good. So anyway it's

[1:31:44] been an honor to serve on this

[1:31:46] from the beginning actually

[1:31:47] uh've been on this panel from

[1:31:50] since we started it and it's

[1:31:52] been an honor working with all

[1:31:53] of you. thank you very much.

[1:31:56] thank you Representative Ospor

[1:31:57] will there be any additional

[1:31:57] comments by the body

[1:32:00] seeing them we'll move to item

[1:32:02] number5 any new business that

[1:32:03] needs to come before us.

[1:32:06] seeing none entertain a motion

[1:32:07] to adjourn

[1:32:09] and a motion second to adjourn

[1:32:14] on in favor signified by sayingi

[1:32:15] old pro's name eyes have it and

[1:32:16] we stand adjourned

Legislative Office of Fiscal Transparency -LOFT-

Transcript