Committee retains DMV notice bill after Department of Safety warns of operational costs and unclear enforcement role

The House Finance Committee’s Division II retained HB 133 after hearing testimony from the Department of Safety on Jan. 29 about operational challenges the bill would impose on the Division of Motor Vehicles. The bill would require the DMV to identify people who presented out-of-state driver’s licenses or IDs when voting, check whether those people obtained New Hampshire credentials within 60 days, and at 90 days send inquiries if they had not done so.

Why it matters: Department officials told the committee they lack both the automated systems and the staffing currently required to send and manually process the volume of correspondence the bill envisions. Department witnesses warned the proposed procedure could create a new volume of casework and public questions for an agency that issues credentials but does not administer elections.

What the department said: John Marasco, director in the Department of Safety, told the committee the governor’s draft included a $40,000 allocation for system updates but that the department expects a need for at least 1 additional staff position to conduct manual matching, vet ambiguous records and handle…