During the closures due to COVID-19, CT DMV has been operating on significantly reduced staff and is only processing new motor vehicle registrations or registration transfers by mail or through a dropbox / drop off service. Wait times to receive plates is four or more weeks, and that's only if all paperwork is submitted correctly right from the start.

Auto dealers have the ability to process registration transfers and new registrations, but only if the vehicle is purchased from them. This means that CT residents can not acquire a registration in a timely fashion if a vehicle is purchased from an out-of-state dealer or a private seller. CT auto dealerships know this and are using this fact as leverage when negotiating a deal on a car on their lots.

Many residents of CT are being put in a position to choose between driving a vehicle illegally to get to a job to support their family or to lose that job at a time when earning an income is more difficult than ever for so many. People are also being forced to either not drive to care for a loved one or break the law to do so because they can't get their registration processed efficiently.

It is time for CT residents to have this issue complete resolved through some number of the following steps that can be taken for both near and long-term solutions:

- Call DMV workers back to the office to process the backlog. The ONLY functions being performed at DMV currently are registration and title related yet there is four week backlog. There are not restrictions in place for Phase 1 opening that would prevent the offices from being habitable by workers.

- Allow AAA offices to process new registration and transfer requests to validate paperwork and issue temporary plates that would signify that the paperwork has been accepted and is in process.

- Allow registration paperwork to be validated by a person at the time of drop-off to ensure that it is complete and accurate, then issue temporary plates that would signify that the paperwork has been accepted and is in process.

- Allow a vehicle to be driven with a printed "plate" image that would be downloaded from the DMV web site provided that all paperwork showing ownership of the vehicle be maintained WITH the vehicle at all times. This would be valid for 14 days from the date of purchase. After this date, an additional, personalized "validation code" (which would be sent by email from the DMV after the dropped off or mailed paperwork envelope was opened) would need to be added to the printed plate (handwritten).

As Connecticut residents, we DESERVE to be able to drive our cars legally without having to wait an entire month for a phone call that might only be to tell us that the paperwork we mailed in wasn't complete or had errors. It is our right to be able to get to work, to care for loved ones, to get back and forth to the store for food, and just to "take a ride" as a way to get out for our own mental health.