WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton today protested outside the West Hollywood Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and unveiled his CALIFORDABLE plan to abolish the Department of Motor Vehicles, cut annual vehicle registration to a flat $73, and end DMV lines.
California spends $1.46 billion a year on a stand-alone department with 170 field offices. Hilton said it is a monopoly that treats taxpayers with contempt, while the basic $73 registration fee is buried under a value-based vehicle tax, transportation add-ons and local surcharges. Drivers can spend hundreds to more than $1,000, while registration in most other states is under $100.
“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’s plan would eliminate the department as a stand-alone agency after a three-month audit and a No More DMV Act. The state would keep a lean records and safety operation for licenses, fraud prevention and REAL ID. Routine title, registration and renewal work would move to county offices and certified local service centers. No field office would close until people nearby have an equal or better in-person option.
“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.”
Unneeded sites would be offered first to community colleges and apprenticeship programs as job-training centers, or sold if there is no practical local use. Hilton said the $73 fee must stay a fee, not the start of another stack of add-ons. Capping registration at $73 would reduce that revenue from about $11 billion to $2.7 billion, with the difference offset through Operation Zero Waste.
Hilton said he is showing up to talk about costs like these while Xavier Becerra has spent months keeping a low profile, dodging press questions, and refusing debate invitations after promising “lots of debates.” Becerra has now agreed to only one, September 30 on CNN.
“Becerra is hiding from voters and hiding from the media,” Hilton said. “One made-for-TV date after months of running away is not a debate schedule. Californians should be getting to work and getting ahead, not waiting in line or waiting for his plan to fix this mess.”
For more information about Steve’s campaign, vision, and work across the state, visit SteveHiltonForGovernor.com
