An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Legislation passed by the West Virginia Senate on Monday combines more convenience for the state’s residents and money savings for state government.
Those are both pluses that make Senate Bill 431 worthy of passage by the state’s House of Delegates.
The measure would lengthen the renewal cycle for West Virginia driver’s licenses from the current fiveyear requirement to eight years. That, of course, means that motorists won’t have to worry about making a trip to a Division of Motor Vehicles as often to renew their licenses. The longer renewal time also means lower costs because staff in the DMV offices will have a reduced workload. DMV Commissioner Steve Dale says about 270,000 drivers visit DMV offices to renew their licenses annually. The switch to an eight-year renewal cycle would drop that to an estimated 150,000 visits a year.
There’s another aspect to the legislation that could reduce that number even further…
