2 ms·

Firsthand experience: DMV experience comes down to funding. Ohio BMV is basically a pleasure and a joy to visit every time I interacted. Staff was competent, o

by tomrod 4y ago

Firsthand experience: DMV experience comes down to funding. Ohio BMV is basically a pleasure and a joy to visit every time I interacted. Staff was competent, offices were laid out logically, and time to completion was measured in minutes. Texas, on the other hand, funds offices relative to the proportion of tax base in the area (this also disproportionately affects minorities, I've seen). Some areas are like the general Ohio BMV. Others one could reasonably point to and say getting an ID there is so difficult that it must be the goal (like voter suppression). At one of these, I waited over 5 hours in line only to find they skipped my number and wouldn't let me come back. We showed up 1.5 hours before opening and were in the line that wrapped around the block. Wait time after their screwup would have put getting services after closing (i.e. wasn't happening that day). I got lucky the second day I took off of work to get my license changed. But areas with higher tax base (Hebron area in Carollton, TX, part of Austin, TX, etc.) you get in and out quickly. For government services you get what you pay for when you put appropriate monitoring in place.

gruez 4y ago
> Firsthand experience: DMV experience comes down to funding. >you get what you pay for when you put appropriate monitoring in place That's the problem, isn't it? Recall my original comment: >I'm skeptical that waving a "government" wand would magically fix stuff. Sure, we might get the Ohio DMV experience, or the Texas DMV experience. It's not as simple as "nationalize it", and it turns out swimmingly. Given that such a database would have to be federal, you can expect all the federal level politics (eg. fundings/defundings, gridlock, government shutdowns) that go along with it.
Spooky23 4y ago
Texas is a pretty messed up governance model in general. Whenever you see this kind of incompetence, it always a political issue, as the DMV is a revenue generator. If there's friction involved in paying taxes, it's due to the some stupid political problem. RealID is a huge driver of increased demand for those services. Not only the bullshit around voter suppression and casual racism, but fundamentally areas with more immigrants and more complex documentation needs will take longer to service. Richer areas have a lower demand for services, but county clerks, etc, usually get a piece of the action.

by tomrod 4y ago

gruez 4y ago

> Firsthand experience: DMV experience comes down to funding. >you get what you pay for when you put appropriate monitoring in place That's the problem, isn't it? Recall my original comment: >I'm skeptical that waving a "government" wand would magically fix stuff. Sure, we might get the Ohio DMV experience, or the Texas DMV experience. It's not as simple as "nationalize it", and it turns out swimmingly. Given that such a database would have to be federal, you can expect all the federal level politics (eg. fundings/defundings, gridlock, government shutdowns) that go along with it.

Spooky23 4y ago

Texas is a pretty messed up governance model in general. Whenever you see this kind of incompetence, it always a political issue, as the DMV is a revenue generator. If there's friction involved in paying taxes, it's due to the some stupid political problem. RealID is a huge driver of increased demand for those services. Not only the bullshit around voter suppression and casual racism, but fundamentally areas with more immigrants and more complex documentation needs will take longer to service. Richer areas have a lower demand for services, but county clerks, etc, usually get a piece of the action.