MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Alabama Senate Democrats on Thursday praised the decision to expand driver’s license office hours in Black Belt counties after federal officials said black residents were disproportionately hurt by a slate of closures and reductions in 2015.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced the agreement with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to expand hours. The agreement came a year after the federal agency announced a probe into Alabama’s decision to largely shutter 31 rural driver’s license offices.
Senate Minority Leader Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said the service reductions had hurt people in the poorest areas of the state.
“State government could have done this and avoided the federal government stepping in, but at the end of the day, I’m just glad it worked out,” said Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency signed the memorandum of agreement with the federal agency earlier this month.
The state agency said Thursday that it disagreed with the department’s finding that black residents were being underserved by the driver’s license division.
“While the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency disagrees with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s conclusions, ALEA has negotiated in the best interest of the citizens, the agency and the state, and it has found a way to satisfy the federal agency’s demands and continue to expand its driver license office hours of operation,” a Thursday statement from the state agency said.
The agreement only pertains to offices within Alabama’s Black Belt.
The signed memorandum of agreement states that ALEA will add 2,020 hours of operation each year for district and field driver license offices within the Black Belt region.
Republican Gov. Robert Bentley’s administration announced the closures on Sept. 30, 2015, after legislators largely rejected Bentley’s proposal to raise taxes to deal with a budget shortfall. Following criticisms, the state said the offices would be open one day per month.
Bentley’s administration said the closures and reductions were aimed at the offices that issued the fewest number of licenses each year. The part-time offices were typically only open one day a week to give driving exams, and license renewals were handled by county offices. However, critics pointed out that the closures left many majority black counties without an office in a state that also requires photo identification to vote.
A proposed schedule that accompanied the agreement stated that most Black Belt offices would be open one day per week or two per month. However, a spokeswoman for ALEA could not immediately confirm that schedule. ALEA said it was in the process of hiring additional staff.
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