Committee debates expanding DVS appointment access and raising no‑show fee; amendments advanced, bill laid over

Representative Lee Cagle introduced House File 7‑95 to the House Transportation Committee as a measure to increase options for appointments at the Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) division and to adjust fees intended to reduce no‑shows at driver's license and road‑test appointments.

Cagle said the bill aims to “give us more options and opportunities for drivers appointments at DVS,” citing constituent reports of long waits and the difficulty of booking openings. He described a provision in section 2 that would change fees to “incentivize people to follow through with these important appointments.”

Committee members debated three amendments. An author’s A4 amendment — described by the author as a technical change to put the bill into bill form — was adopted by voice vote. An A5 amendment, offered by Representative Tapke and discussed as a measure that would initially gate appointment booking to county residents and adjacent counties, was withdrawn by the authors after members and DVS staff raised concerns about implementation and fairness.

Director Peng Zhang of the DVS testified about operational limits and the technology platform the agency uses to take appointments. “It really presents two challenges for DVS,” Zhang said, noting the state’s appointment system is an off‑the‑shelf product that would require customization to restrict booking by county. Zhang also told the committee that “as of this morning, we have over 6,000 appointments available in all 10 regions,” and urged preserving open access so “all Minnesotans have access to them.”

Representative Green moved the A3 amendment, described as deleting section 2 of the bill and thereby removing the bill’s fee changes. Green framed that amendment as an effort to avoid increasing fees that could be regressive; she said the amendment would remove the fee provisions completely. The committee discussed the policy tradeoffs: proponents of higher fees argued they could reduce no‑shows and free scarce appointment slots, while opponents said higher fees can burden low‑income families and there was insufficient evidence that raising the fee would change behavior.

Director Zhang and DVS staff gave data about cancellations and no‑shows. Committee members cited DVS testimony that about 20% of scheduled tests are not filled and that roughly 48% of cancellations happen within 24 hours of the appointment. Pat Benner, legislative representative for AFSCME Council 5, urged the committee to raise the fee, describing staff experience of frequent last‑minute no‑shows and saying, “the no‑show rate for DVS license exams, from a staff perspective, is unacceptable, with the ballpark of 20% of tests going unfilled every day and 48 percent of those being last‑minute no shows.” Benner added he was open to time‑limited or study‑based approaches rather than a permanent steep fee.

After debate the A3 amendment was put to a vote and did not prevail. Committee members discussed alternative ideas that were raised in testimony, including standby lists and operational workarounds for filling last‑minute openings. No final passage of the bill occurred; Chair Myers (acting chair for parts of the hearing) laid House File 7‑95 over for further work.

Actions taken during the hearing included the approval of committee minutes for Feb. 17, adoption of the A4 author’s amendment, withdrawal of the A5 amendment, defeat of the A3 amendment, and the bill being laid over. No fee or policy changes in statute were enacted by the committee during this session.

The committee requested and received a fiscal note and additional information from DVS staff; members indicated they want continued updates from the department as appointment availability changes.