Easing of driver’s license renewal gets House nod

Legislators are trying to ease the renewal of CNMI driver’s license under a proposal that will change the existing regulations to allow drivers to renew their license beyond the expiration date.

A bill sponsored by Senate Floor Leader Pete P. Reyes was passed by the House of Representatives yesterday to relax the stringent requirements, but members voted to amend the proposal.

The amendment on Senate Bill 11-145 will impose penalty to those who failed to renew their license six months after the expiration which falls on the birth date of the individual in the third year following the issuance.

This is a stricter regulation than the initial Senate measure which sought only the vision test upon application and payment for license renewal.

Lawmakers justified the move as part of the efforts to unburden the Bureau of Motor Vehicles from the administration of written and driving tests again for old drivers.

These requirements, including the vision test, are given only to new applicants.

The legislative proposal, however, will still provide flexibility to BMV to require written and practical examinations as conditions for renewal “when there is good reason to believe such examination is necessary to determine the applicant’s continued ability” to drive.

SB 11-145, one of the legislation passed during the House session yesterday, goes back to the Senate to approve the amendment.

Other bills passed by representatives were:

– HB 11-309, amending the law to restrict issuance of business license by the Department of Commerce (for Senate action);

– HB 11-276, creating the Agricultural Homestead Program (for Senate action);

– HB 11-397, forbidding nonresident workers from including cosmetic surgery in the employer-sponsored medical benefits (for Senate action);

– HB 11-389, creation of free trade zones in the CNMI (for Senate action);

– HB 11-420, establishment of interest-bearing accounts for the local courts from revenues they generate from filing of cases and other administrative charges (for Senate action);

– HB 11-449, Youth Congress Amendment Act (for Senate action);

– HB 11-464, setting aside five percent of the total revenue collections from gambling winner’s tax for construction of youth and Man’Amko centers in the CNMI (for Senate action); and

– A House joint resolution which urged the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation to expedite plan on water desalination plant on Saipan to ease water shortages in the central district.