On January 15 the City of Valdez issued a press release with a call to action: Contact State Representative George Rauscher with your concerns about Governor Dunleavy’s plan to close the Valdez DMV. The Valdez and Tok DMVs are both slated to be completely cut in the Governor’s budget for the next fiscal year, along with others around the state including Homer.

According to a City of Valdez statement, “Closure of the DMV office will create substantial, negative challenges for residents of Valdez and surrounding small communities who need to obtain DMV services not available online. The nearest DMV office outside Valdez is in Glennallen, 120 miles away through the mountains.” 

District 9 Representative George Rauscher, who represents Valdez, agrees that closing DMV offices will have substantial negative impacts on residents. “I’m not sure they understood the implications,” he said. He said he has received “hundreds of letters- people are very unhappy. It’s an imposition for many people in our district and I’m sure for people in Tok. Some people don’t have a lot of use for other state services. But the DMV is used by pretty much everybody.”

Rauscher pointed out that Valdez residents would have to take an entire day off of work to make the out and back trip to Glennallen, that weather conditions create an additional obstacle, and that the trip might be too much for senior citizens and other frail residents. He also said that people with CDLs have told him they could have additional problems with not being able to access a local DMV. 

Brent Wittmer, Special Assistant to the Department of Administration Commissioner, provided this statement via email: “The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is supportive of the proposed office closures as described in the Governor’s recent budget proposal. The recommendations were brought forward by the department as part of a cost savings measure and the fact citizens can be served by DMV offices in nearby communities. Many DMV services can be performed on-line, and DMV is actively working to develop public-private partnerships to continue to provide DMV services in the areas that are recommended for closure. For example, DMV has recently partnered with a private entity, Swift Tags and Titles, to open a new office in Delta Junction that can serve citizens in both Delta Junction and Tok.”

Representative Rauscher does not support the move to rely on private entities to perform DMV services. He said that not all services can be provided by private partners, and that some services could cost more from a private source. 

District 6 Representative Mike Cronk said that he, like Rauscher, has heard a lot from unhappy constituents. He said he is working with the other house members and state senators who represent affected areas to oppose the cuts. In the case of Tok, residents would have to travel about 200 miles to Fairbanks in order to access a state DMV office. The private office in Delta Junction is approximately 108 miles away from Tok. Northway residents are 50 miles in the other direction from Tok, and so would have to travel even farther. 

Cronk said that travel costs associated with going to the DMV, especially hotel costs that might be needed to travel to Fairbanks, place an undue burden on residents. He stated it is an unnecessary risk for residents to take long road trips in -40 degree weather simply to keep their appointments. Cronk also noted that the Tok DMV is the first office available to the truckers who enter the state of Alaska across the Canadian border. 

I contacted Governor Dunleavy’s office to ask whether his administration is considering a change of heart due to the strength of local opposition. The Governor’s spokespeople did not have any additional comments beyond referring me to the Alaska Department of Administration.

Starting in October 2021, Alaskans who do not upgrade their driver’s license to a Real ID will not be able to use their license as identification to enter restricted spaces such as military bases, airplanes, and federal buildings. The Real ID can only be obtained through an in person visit. Online service is not an option due to the identity verification requirements. The Swift Tags and Titles office in Delta Junction does not currently process Real IDs, but they anticipate that they will have that capacity as soon as next week. There is variability among private businesses as to which services they do and do not provide. 

According to Rauscher, the legislators working on this issue requested data regarding the amount of local usage at each office to support their case. Rauscher said they have not received the requested data. Brent Wittmer at the Department of Administration replied when asked about it that he was not aware of the request. At press time, I had not been able to reach the Valdez DMV directly. 

“I think we have a really good case,” said Cronk, “We can’t force people to drive extreme distances and put a big financial burden on them just to get a driver’s license.” 

Rauscher is optimistic that he can work to have the decision reversed. He said, “I think we’re going to have to go through the Finance Committee to get it put back in [the budget]. Then it will go to the Governor and we’ll see if we can keep his red pen away from it.” 

Article by Allison Sayer