Steve Hilton proposed abolishing California's DMV as a stand-alone agency and replacing vehicle registration with a $73 annual fee. He unveiled the plan in West Hollywood as part of his Cali-fordable campaign platform, and the proposal would still need legislative action before it could take effect.
Hilton said he would call for a three-month audit before eliminating the DMV as a separate department. A smaller state-run operation would keep handling driver's licenses and REAL IDs, while routine vehicle title, registration and renewal services would move to county offices.
West Hollywood DMV proposal
Hilton announced the plan at a DMV office in West Hollywood and said, "Enough is enough with the DMV, enough is enough with sky-high registration rates — we are done." He also said, "We are going to turn DMV offices into after-school clubs and skilled training centers, actually provide useful services in these buildings rather than what we got now."
The proposal would change where drivers handle the most common transactions. Under Hilton's plan, county offices would take over routine registration work, while some DMV functions would be privatized and some facilities repurposed for after-school clubs and skilled-training centers.
Juanita Sams at Hillcrest DMV
Juanita Sams, who was visiting the Hillcrest DMV, said she currently pays about $500 a year for registration. She added, "It's cheaper" and "Once a year, I could save that," a calculation that shows why the $73 fee could matter to drivers who now pay far more.
Charles Douglas, another driver, raised a different concern. "Sounds like a nightmare to me, considering the amount of people who come into the DMV, where are they going to go?" he said, pointing to the practical question that would follow any move to shift services out of the state agency.
Hilton and Becerra
Hilton's campaign said the change would cut state registration revenue from about $11 billion a year to $2.7 billion. Hilton said the lost money would be offset through Operation Zero Waste, another campaign proposal, but the plan still depends on lawmakers because abolishing the DMV as a stand-alone department would require legislative action rather than an executive order.
Xavier Becerra's campaign criticized the proposal, saying, "Nothing says 'safer roads' like outsourcing driver safety checks to the lowest bidder." Hilton and Becerra are scheduled to take part in their first debate on Sept. 30, where the DMV plan will face its first direct test before voters.
