WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (CNS) - Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton Tuesday unveiled a proposal to abolish the California Department of Motor Vehicles as a stand-alone agency and reduce annual vehicle registration costs to a flat $73.
Hilton announced the proposal while appearing outside a DMV office in West Hollywood Tuesday as part of his "Califordable" campaign platform.
Under the proposal, the DMV would undergo a three-month audit before being eliminated as a stand-alone department. A smaller state operation would remain responsible for driver's licenses, fraud prevention, REAL ID and other records and safety functions, according to Hilton's campaign.
Routine vehicle title, registration and renewal services would be shifted to county offices and certified local service centers. Hilton's campaign said no DMV field office would close until an equivalent or better in- person service option was available nearby.
"California does not need a better DMV line. It needs no DMV line," Hilton said. "This is the miserable symbol of this bloated nanny-state bureaucracy, bossing people around while charging a fortune for the privilege."
Hilton also proposed capping annual vehicle registration costs at $73, which his campaign said would reduce state registration revenue from about $11 billion to $2.7 billion.
The campaign said the lost revenue would be offset through a separate Hilton proposal dubbed "Operation Zero Waste," aimed at reducing state spending.
"If you can afford it, you buy your way out of the line. Everyone else takes time off work and hopes the person behind the counter can solve it that day," Hilton said. "That is not public service. That is a monopoly that expects the public to work around the government."
Xavier Becerra's campaign Communications Director Jonathan Underland criticized Hilton's proposal.
"Nothing says `safer roads' like outsourcing driver safety checks to the lowest bidder," Underland said in a statement.
Hilton said DMV properties no longer needed under his proposal would first be offered to community colleges and apprenticeship programs for use as job-training centers and could otherwise be sold.
The proposal would require legislative action, including what Hilton's campaign described as a "No More DMV Act."
Hilton and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra are scheduled to debate Sept. 30 on CNN.
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