ST. PAUL — Minnesota officials have come up with a plan to continue trying to fix and upgrade the state’s beleaguered computer system for vehicle license plates and tabs.
They’re hoping to tap into funds slated for enhancements to a new computer system for Real ID driver’s licenses, which are being rolled out next month.
The likely solution floated this week to state lawmakers aims to keep improving MNLARS — the now-$100-million-plus computer system that was rolled out more than a year ago and has never worked as it was supposed to — through February by diverting $5.5 million from the Real ID track.
After February, work on MNLARS would essentially cease without new funding from the next Legislature and governor. A more-secure funding plan failed at the Capitol earlier this year. It became roadkill when it was included in a wide-ranging spending bill that Republican lawmakers passed and Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, vetoed for unrelated reasons. Each side blamed the other.
Commissioner Johanna Clyborne, who heads the state information technology department, or MNIT, told lawmakers and the Pioneer Press that the planned use of the $5.5 million in Real ID funds will delay enhancements to that system, but it won’t affect the underlying launch of the new licenses Oct. 1.
Minnesotans with valid driver’s licenses will not have to rush to get a Real ID license. Starting in October 2020, the new licenses, which feature enhanced security, will be required to board domestic airline flights.

‘NO-WIN SITUATION’
No one seems to like that such a Band-Aid maneuver is needed, but without it, several important upgrades to MNLARS would be delayed until at least the winter, if not longer.
“We’re kind of in a no-win situation, and so I’m trying to do the best I can,” Clyborne said in an interview. She was brought on board by Dayton last year when the MNLARS troubles boiled over amid complaints from license centers, many of which are privately owned businesses, as well as auto dealers, insurance companies, and regular folks unable to get their legally required paperwork in order.
Republican lawmakers pummeled the Dayton administration over the problems, with some threatening to attempt to disband the entire MNIT agency.
Nonetheless, lawmakers this week received the new plan soberly.
“The bottom line is that Minnesota citizens need these services in place,” said Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, who chairs the House Transportation Finance Committee, which has oversight over the program.

​The new funding plan doesn’t require approval from lawmakers, but it will need an official agreement between FAST Enterprises, the company hired to implement Real ID, and the state to allow the $5.5 million to be delayed. Clyborne and Torkelson both said FAST has indicated they’re receptive to the idea.

​David Lameyer of North St. Paul, Minn., holds his personalized license plate, with a number he’s had for 20 years, outside his office in Fridley on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017. Like at least 1,000 other Minnesotans, Lameyer was unable to transfer his specialized plate — showing his initials and the year he was born — onto a car he bought earlier this year because the state’s troubled new computer system, known as MNLARS, is unable to process such a transfer. (Dave Orrick / Pioneer Press)

​Michael Towner

Minnesota female veterans can now own a license plate honoring their service and dedication to the nation.
The specialty licenses plates, made possible by the Women's Veteran's Initiative, aim to remove the invisibility that many of Minnesota's 29,000 women Veterans feel. They are the first in the state that specifically refer to women Veterans.Stacey Rhodes, a Veteran working at the Duluth Vet Center says these plates will go a long way to help some veterans connect and identify with their service.
"If part of that is a license plate and that's what helps people identify with their service, take pride in it, and share experience than I think that's a great idea," Rhodes said. The goal is to get 500 plates on vehicles by end of 2015 in Minnesota. Nine other states offer similar plates.