Steve Hilton proposed abolishing the California Department of Motor Vehicles as a stand-alone agency and capping annual vehicle registration at $73. He made the case outside a DMV office in West Hollywood on Tuesday, tying the plan to his Califordable campaign platform.
The proposal would start with a three-month audit, then leave a smaller state operation handling driver's licenses, fraud prevention, REAL ID and other records and safety functions. Routine vehicle title, registration and renewal services would move to county offices and certified local service centers, and no DMV field office would close until an equivalent or better in-person option was available nearby.
West Hollywood Tuesday
Hilton said the current system forces Californians into a costly queue. “California does not need a better DMV line. It needs no DMV line.” He added, “This is the miserable symbol of this bloated nanny-state bureaucracy, bossing people around while charging a fortune for the privilege.”
He also said, “If you can afford it, you buy your way out of the line. Everyone else takes time off work and hopes the person behind the counter can solve it that day.” Hilton concluded, “That is not public service. That is a monopoly that expects the public to work around the government.”
Operation Zero Waste
Hilton's campaign said the $73 cap would reduce state registration revenue from about $11 billion to $2.7 billion. The lost revenue would be offset through a separate Hilton proposal dubbed Operation Zero Waste. DMV properties no longer needed under the plan would first be offered to community colleges and apprenticeship programs for use as job-training centers, or otherwise sold.
Those shifts would change where drivers handle routine paperwork. For many Californians, the practical step would be to use a county office or certified local service center instead of a stand-alone DMV field office for title, registration and renewal work.
No More DMV Act
The proposal would require legislative action, including what Hilton's campaign described as a No More DMV Act. Jonathan Underland, Xavier Becerra's campaign communications director, criticized the plan, saying, “Nothing says `safer roads' like outsourcing driver safety checks to the lowest bidder.”
Hilton and Xavier Becerra are scheduled to debate on Sept. 30 on. That debate will give Hilton a public test of whether he can defend a plan that cuts registration costs sharply while shifting state services away from the DMV as a stand-alone department.
