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More Road Time, Less Wait Time: New Illinois Law Allows Multi-Year Plate Registration

The law, which takes effect in 2020, will let drivers pay for multiple registrations at once.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner has signed a measure aimed at shortening wait times at driver services locations. The new law will give drivers the option to renew their license plates for multiple years.

Come 2020, drivers will be able to pay for two years’ worth of vehicle registration, instead of just one. And trailers can be registered for up to five years.

The fee for each year of registration will be due all at once. The idea had unanimous support in both chambers. State Rep. Mark Batinick (R, Plainfield) sponsored the legislation.

“You know, I get people who have their license plate for years and years and years, and they got, ya know, seven, eight, nine tags on the license plate. This allows you to do it half the amount of time,” Batinick explained.

He says the majority of drivers renew their plates in person, but this new rule could help slash wait times and workloads.

“I mean it’s 2018," he said. "I know I do mine online. So we’re trying to get that 75 percent of people that do it in person, we’re trying to get that number down because the more that’s done online, the more efficient it is for the DMV.”

Batinick says the Secretary of State’s office will need some time to accommodate the change, hence the two years before the option takes effect.

Once it takes effect, the multi-year option will be available only online.

Sam is a Public Affairs Reporting intern for spring 2018, working out the NPR Illinois Statehouse bureau.
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