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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 4, 2023 01:58 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative John A. Lawrence |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | COSPONSOR MEMO – PennDOT has 90 days to Process Paperwork or the Job is Free |
| Dear Colleagues – In recent days, I have heard from MANY constituents who have shared stories surrounding PennDOT title/registration work that either 1) Never got processed, 2) Took months to get processed, or 3) Was processed incorrectly. To cite specific examples: A constituent purchased a vehicle a year ago, and sent the registration paperwork to PennDOT. More than a year later, a police officer pulled them over to cite the owner for driving an unregistered vehicle. It turns out the reason the vehicle is unregistered is that PennDOT received, but never processed, the registration paperwork. Titlework incorrectly processed – titles sent out with incorrect liens. A constituent paid to switch a vehicle with an antique title to a standard title. PennDOT issued a standard title, but failed to update the registration’s expiration date status, leaving it with the antique “permanent” status. Constituent was pulled over by a police officer asking why the vehicle had an expired registration, turns out it actually had NO expiration since the permanent antique expiration held over to the standard issue title/registration. PennDOT cashed a check but input the wrong dollar amount in their system, then sent a letter to the constituent asking for more money to complete the processing work, when the problem is that PennDOT put the wrong amount in their system. My own father purchased a vehicle, but received a PennDOT title in the mail in my name. In all of these cases, PennDOT cashed the check right away, but then delivered substandard work. I am sure many of you have seem similar instances in your own legislative offices. I asked PennDOT about these issues during budget hearings last session, and during a Transportation committee hearing on this bill. PennDOT tried to pass the buck and blamed independent title agents for the missteps, but I pointedly corrected them to state that most of the issues we have seen have been with PennDOT, not title agents. Candidly, title agents are collecting millions of dollars in processing fees and vehicle sales tax revenue every year for PennDOT, and for PennDOT to turn around and blame them for PennDOT’s own processing problems is really galling. To be clear, I recognize that the COVID pandemic presented many challenges, that some of these issues can be attributed to staffing challenges during the height of the response, and that paperwork processing was delayed as a result. I also recognize that there are many hard-working people at PennDOT. But the fact remains that too many Pennsylvanians are having too many issues with PennDOT. It also bears mentioning that people are paying for these services, in some cases paying quite a bit, and trying to track down a response on improperly processed paperwork can be nearly impossible for the average citizen. PennDOT needs to get their act together, clear out the backlogs, and deliver first-class service to the people who are footing the bill. With that in mind, I will reintroduce legislation that requires PennDOT to correctly process title / registration work within 90 days of initial receipt. Work that is not properly processed after 90 days will be eligible for a refund of PennDOT title and registration fees. The hope would be that this initiative will force systemic changes at PennDOT to provide better customer service to the motoring public. This legislation passed the House last session with bipartisan support, but did not see action in the Senate. I would appreciate your support on this initiative. |
Introduced as HB1197