If Democrats are looking for a new political priority, we should consider administrative competence and innovation. It’s not very sexy, but in a world of increasing uncertainty, more reliable delivery of basic services just might be something people want right now.
For example, for as long as most of us can remember, state departments of motor vehicles (DMVs) have been a shorthand joke about inefficient government at its finest. Getting a driver’s license or updating your vehicle registration has been likened to getting a root canal.
When I became secretary of state in 2023, we were under no illusions that Illinois’ DMV could one day be a “fun” experience, but we hoped it might be something less than a frustrating, time-consuming inconvenience. We hoped it might actually be efficient.
The office we inherited had been occupied for 24 years by one of the most popular politicians in Illinois and a lifelong community leader. I was honored to fill the shoes of Jesse White, even as we knew that the office needed a major upgrade.
Driven to modernize and improve, we began with a few simple questions. Why do people have to wait in line at the DMV? Why can’t they make an appointment? Why can’t they access services online instead of having to come into a facility? Can we train our employees to do more than one thing? How can we be more innovative in the services we provide?
These questions prompted us to improve a variety of services aimed directly at cutting red tape and reducing the “time tax,” or the amount of time people are forced to wait for government services, by being innovative and pioneering. A few of these efficiencies include:
- More than doubling the number of driver’s licenses and state identification cards we issue online every month to more than 60,000.
- Introducing an appointment system, which during the past year has allowed 3.4 million customers to schedule appointments at our busiest branches and get them out the door more quickly.
- Establishing four senior-only centers, which have served more than 105,000 seniors since opening last fall.
- Transitioning our DMV facilities to one-stop shops with cross-trained employees, so customers can take care of everything — license, registration, etc. — without moving among stations.
- Piloting self-service kiosks so motorists can renew their licenses and registrations during a trip to the grocery store.
At the secretary of state’s office, we’ve accomplished these data-driven efficiency enhancements without sacrificing the values we share as Illinoisans, which includes preventing book bans in our libraries, protecting reproductive rights by preventing license plate readers from tracking women and making roads safer by outlawing streaming and access of social media while driving.
Nevertheless, you generally don’t hear Republicans talking about the kinds of nuts-and-bolts improvements in the public sector. Instead, they yammer on about government’s shortcomings. They tell us over and over again that if we just get government out of the way, the problems will magically take care of themselves.
Some Democratic leaders have already gotten the memo, such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was elected on a promise to “fix the damn roads,” and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has reduced the amount of time it takes to get a business license from eight weeks to two days. Here in Illinois, Gov. JB Pritzker has made a difference for working families by making it easier to access vital early childhood services.
We have a ton of problems in our cities and states today from drug abuse and violent crime to a lack of health care and housing affordability. It’s easy to lament these problems, blame someone else and run from the solutions. It can feel overwhelming — like trying to solve ocean-sized problems with bucket-sized solutions. No, government is not the solution to all of them. But as public servants, we must demonstrate and restore confidence that government can work for people. We can cut the time tax.
Sometimes, however, you have to start with the basics. If we really want safer cities, it would help to invest in technologies that reduce paperwork for police. If we really want better schools, we should make it easier to certify new teachers. If we really want more affordable health care, we should not be required to fill out — by hand — the same forms over and over again.
Reducing wait times at the DMV may not transform people’s lives, but it can begin to push back against the destructive narrative that “government doesn’t work.” More importantly, by getting some of the little things right, we can begin to make progress on the big things.
It’s a shame when the public doesn’t have confidence that the government is doing everything it can to work for them. It’s a tragedy when they’re right. We’ll never make progress on the big things if people don’t trust us to do the small things right.
For Democrats looking for a way back into the light, good services are good politics, and that’s as good a place to start as any.
Alexi Giannoulias is the Illinois secretary of state.
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