Got a Funny call from my state rep today

[SOJ]

Yessir, they are running behind (isn't that normal), so let's raise cane and get us a few hundred more employees down there (who pay's for that, not us surely?) , so we can get our Plastic quicker.

[seamusTX]

Who pays for it? Of course we do. I am not convinced that DPS spends $70 or $140 per application.

The state has a huge budget surplus, over $10 billion, announced last month. Spending a few thousand or a few hundred thousand is not going to break the bank, and it is legally and morally necessary for them to meet the law. It is also not going to change what anyone pays in taxes, now or later.

- Jim

[Charles L. Cotton]

This is getting ridiculous

Yes it is.

Chas.

[Mike1951]

Perhaps the best reason not to stir things up too much was made by Charles Cotton in another thread.

The legislative 'cure' we get may not be a better staffed DPS CHL department, but a change in the amount of time they have to process the application. 120 days?

Here is something to consider. If this is handled poorly, the legislative change might be to extend the statutory time limit to 90 to 120 days, not fix the delay problems and fix the typo that gives DPS up to 90 days on an initial application instead of 60 days. I say this because DPS is currently trying to work under the watchful eye of Chairman Driver and if they get even more pressure, the response may be "the statutory time limit is too short and it should be increased." Don't think for a second this is not a distinct possibility. That's why my proposed changes greatly decrease DPS workload, thus removing any justification for extending the processing time.

Edited to add actual quote from Charles

[HerbM]

We really shouldn't buy into this type of reasoning:

Don't complain about the government not following the law, OR ELSE the government will change the law to make it follow their illegal behavior.

That's similar to (but not as serious as): If we bring charges against the criminal then he and his friends will attack us.

Don't make waves. Don't speak up. Don't work for your rights. Don't cause trouble.

Papieren, Bitte!!!

The Brady Bunch, the AWB, the worthless Brady law, and other gun ban tactics have radicalized me -- once I realized that they have no evidence and only use our own sheepishness to trick us into letting their pet lawmakers pass stupid bills.

If I seem strong and uncompromising on standing up for rights, you probably have understood me perfectly.

We must stop being our own worst enemies, and letting what "sounds reasonable" (but is unsupported by evidence and history) guide us but rather demand (as nicely and as firmly as possible) our rights.

No one else will do so if we don't.

[Bart]

How much of the delay is caused by DPS employees typing 90wpm (words per month) and how much is the FBI background check? Maybe people are complaining to the wrong elected officials.

[Liko81]

We really shouldn't buy into this type of reasoning:

Don't complain about the government not following the law, OR ELSE the government will change the law to make it follow their illegal behavior.

That's similar to (but not as serious as): If we bring charges against the criminal then he and his friends will attack us.

What you fail to mention is that both behaviors are documented. Witnesses against a gangbanger or mob-related defendant are "snitches" and if the defendant or his homies/"family" get the chance, they will kill them.

The government, quite literally, draws its own law. It sets the rules by which it governs itself as well as us, and those rules can be changed. There are documented cases where a deadline date was kept being pushed back until it became meaningless. The supposed transition to all government software being written in ADA is a prime example; various agencies and contractors dragged their feet until the fed.gov gave up. The same methods are being used to counter Real ID, only the disobedience is less covert; states are saying "we will not now, nor will we ever adopt Real ID standards, and there is nothing you can do to make us comply".

Now, neither case applies here; the government is governing itself, and in this case the DPS is the one dragging its feet. Possible solutions include:

* Quadrupling the size of the department to handle the extra work.
* Extending the time limit that the department has to process an application.
* Changing the law to allow issuance of a temporary license if the time limit expires; the temp is valid until the application is approved or denied. (this would only work if all applications underwent initial processing immediately upon arrival; that is obviously not the case currently as many apps are sitting unopened the entire 60 days).
* Reducing the amount of paperwork needed to process a CHL. The more stringent background check coupled with the AFIS check, registration and logging is the biggest chunk of application processing time and effort in the whole deal. If that could be streamlined, total processing time would be reduced significantly.

[seamusTX]

How much of the delay is caused by DPS employees ... and how much is the FBI background check? Maybe people are complaining to the wrong elected officials.

DPS officials have admitted that the problem is in their office. They have been taking more than two months to start processing, in some cases.

If the FBI background check were the problem, they could send the fingerprint card to the feds when they open the envelope and take out the check.

- Jim

[agbullet2k1]

How much of the delay is caused by DPS employees typing 90wpm (words per month) and how much is the FBI background check? Maybe people are complaining to the wrong elected officials.

In TN, they sent off for the same FBI background check, and I got mine in about 40 days from class to plastic. I blame DPS.

[03Lightningrocks]

I don't see how the DPS can gear up in advance for a sudden increase of 30% in workload. They hired temps to do the dirty work, hopefully speeding up the process.
If the rate of applications stays at 30% increase, they can make some temps full time. If it drops back to previous levels, they can let some temps go. They can't gear up with full time career employees for a temporary situation. Not unless we are willing to pay additional money so we can have State employees sitting around waiting for the next rush. It stinks and I have cried about it as much as the next guy, but in reality, I think they are doing about all they can. Hopefully someone down there is making sure the process is running as efficiently as possible.

[03Lightningrocks]

The funny part is that if they had written 120 days in that book instead of 60, nobody would be upset right now. Including me.

[KBCraig]

The problem with the "cutting in line" view is that there is no line. Applications are not ordered and sequenced; they're piled, and workers pull from a pile in no particular order. Just this week, someone reported speaking with Simone, and this was confirmed: the new and temporary workers don't always pull applications in the right order.

That is incorrect. They do work the applications in the order they are received. It may not be an exact science, but the attempt to stay somewhat in order is made.

An "attempt" to stay "somewhat in order" is not nearly the same thing as working applications in the order they are received. Anecdotal evidence makes it very clear that applications received on the same day can have vastly different starting times.

See this recent report:

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 5&p=190648

Ok, so I called just now and guess who answered the phone.... Thats right Simone did. Although she had the same standard "Your not in the system yet" answer, she did seem nice... When I questioned why people are getting approved before me and they took the class after me her answer seemed truthful but really suprised me she said "We have alot of new people inputing the information and some of them are pulling from the wrong stacks." I kind of figured that was happening so the answer didnt suprise me but, her basically confirming it did for some reason...

[03Lightningrocks]

The problem with the "cutting in line" view is that there is no line. Applications are not ordered and sequenced; they're piled, and workers pull from a pile in no particular order. Just this week, someone reported speaking with Simone, and this was confirmed: the new and temporary workers don't always pull applications in the right order.

That is incorrect. They do work the applications in the order they are received. It may not be an exact science, but the attempt to stay somewhat in order is made.

An "attempt" to stay "somewhat in order" is not nearly the same thing as working applications in the order they are received. Anecdotal evidence makes it very clear that applications received on the same day can have vastly different starting times.

See this recent report:

http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... 5&p=190648

Ok, so I called just now and guess who answered the phone.... Thats right Simone did. Although she had the same standard "Your not in the system yet" answer, she did seem nice... When I questioned why people are getting approved before me and they took the class after me her answer seemed truthful but really suprised me she said [color=red"We have alot of new people inputing the information and some of them are pulling from the wrong stacks."[/color] I kind of figured that was happening so the answer didnt suprise me but, her basically confirming it did for some reason...

Regardless of how you want to interpret what a line is (geeze...it brings to mind the Bill Clinton days), it is still WRONG to stop working someones application so someone with pull can be taken care of first. I don't know if you fellers think it is OK for them to show preferential treatment or if you don't believe it is happening. I got it straight from the horses mouth my friend. There are applications being pulled out of the pile due to certain State reps contacting the offices of the DPS...and they do report on the phone that this practice is causing some of the applications to be delayed additional time. Now paint all the grey you want on it, but that is what is going on.

[KBCraig]

Regardless of how you want to interpret what a line is (geeze...it brings to mind the Bill Clinton days), it is still WRONG to stop working someones application so someone with pull can be taken care of first.

It is even more wrong to NOT stop working on a recently-received application, in order to start processing someone whose packet has been sitting there 60 days without even being input into the system.

[03Lightningrocks]

Regardless of how you want to interpret what a line is (geeze...it brings to mind the Bill Clinton days), it is still WRONG to stop working someones application so someone with pull can be taken care of first.

It is even more wrong to NOT stop working on a recently-received application, in order to start processing someone whose packet has been sitting there 60 days without even being input into the system.

I agree. That isn't the situation at all. The situation is moving folks ahead of the line due to pull. The situation is not moving folks to the rear of the line. Why is this so hard for a few of you to understand?

It doesn't matter. Here it is everyone. Write your State Rep and get moved ahead of folks who have been waiting in line longer than you. There...it's out there. You folks can twist it up all you want now.