[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