READ FIRST TIME 02/25/11.   

     AN ACT Relating to reducing customer wait times at driver licensing offices; amending RCW 28A.220.030 and 46.20.515; reenacting and amending RCW 46.20.120; adding a new section to chapter 46.01 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 46.82 RCW; and creating new sections.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   It is the intent of the legislature to utilize the infrastructure and resources of the commercial driver training schools and the school districts' traffic safety education programs by authorizing these entities to provide driver licensing examinations. The legislature intends for the department of licensing to authorize the administration of driver licensing examinations by these entities in order to maintain and reprioritize its staff for the purpose of reducing the wait times at its driver licensing offices.
     Further, the legislature recognizes the growing importance of the work performed by department of licensing driver licensing services employees, who play an increasingly vital role in our security by ensuring that applicants are properly issued identification.

Sec. 2   RCW 28A.220.030 and 2000 c 115 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction is authorized to establish a section of traffic safety education, and through such section shall: Define a "realistic level of effort" required to provide an effective traffic safety education course, establish a level of driving competency required of each student to successfully complete the course, and ensure that an effective statewide program is implemented and sustained, administer, supervise, and develop the traffic safety education program and shall assist local school districts in the conduct of their traffic safety education programs. The superintendent shall adopt necessary rules and regulations governing the operation and scope of the traffic safety education program; and each school district shall submit a report to the superintendent on the condition of its traffic safety education program: PROVIDED, That the superintendent shall monitor the quality of the program and carry out the purposes of this chapter.
     (2) The board of directors of any school district maintaining a secondary school which includes any of the grades 10 to 12, inclusive, may establish and maintain a traffic safety education course. If a school district elects to offer a traffic safety education course and has within its boundaries a private accredited secondary school which includes any of the grades 10 to 12, inclusive, at least one class in traffic safety education shall be given at times other than regular school hours if there is sufficient demand therefor.
     (3) The board of directors of a school district, or combination of school districts, may contract with any drivers' school licensed under the provisions of chapter 46.82 RCW to teach the laboratory phase of the traffic safety education course. Instructors provided by any such contracting drivers' school must be properly qualified teachers of traffic safety education under the joint qualification requirements adopted by the superintendent of public instruction and the director of licensing.
     (4) The superintendent shall establish a required minimum number of hours of continuing traffic safety education for traffic safety education instructors. The superintendent may phase in the requirement over not more than five years.
     (5) School districts that offer a traffic safety education program under this chapter may administer the portions of the driver licensing examination that test the applicant's knowledge of traffic laws and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle as authorized under RCW 46.20.120(7). The superintendent shall work with the department of licensing, in consultation with school districts that offer a traffic safety education program, to develop standards and requirements for administering each portion of the driver licensing examination that are comparable to the standards and requirements for driver training schools under section 6 of this act.
     (6) Before a school district may provide a portion of the driver licensing examination, the school district must, after consultation with the superintendent, enter into an agreement with the department of licensing that sets forth an accountability and audit process that takes into account the unique nature of school district facilities and school hours and, at a minimum, contains provisions that:
     (a) Allow the department of licensing to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits without prior notice;
     (b) Allow the department of licensing to conduct on-site inspections at least annually;
     (c) Allow the department of licensing to test, at least annually, a random sample of the drivers approved by the school district for licensure and to cancel any driver's license that may have been issued to any driver selected for testing who refuses to be tested; and
     (d) Reserve to the department of licensing the right to take prompt and appropriate action against a school district that fails to comply with state or federal standards for a driver licensing examination or to comply with any terms of the agreement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 46.01 RCW to read as follows:
     A civil suit or action may not be commenced or prosecuted against the director, the state of Washington, any driver training school licensed by the department, any other government officer or entity, including a school district or an employee of a school district, or against any other person, by reason of any act done or omitted to be done in connection with administering the portions of the driver licensing examination that test the applicant's knowledge of traffic laws and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. This section does not bar the state of Washington or the director from bringing any action, whether civil or criminal, against any driver training school licensed by the department.

Sec. 4   RCW 46.20.120 and 2005 c 314 s 306 and 2005 c 61 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     An applicant for a new or renewed driver's license must successfully pass a driver licensing examination to qualify for a driver's license. The department ((shall give)) must ensure that examinations are given at places and times reasonably available to the people of this state. If the department does not administer driver licensing examinations as a routine part of its licensing services within a department region because adequate testing sites are provided by driver training schools or school districts within that region, the department shall, at a minimum, administer driver licensing examinations by appointment to applicants eighteen years of age and older in at least one licensing office within that region.
     (1) Waiver. The department may waive:
     (a) All or any part of the examination of any person applying for the renewal of a driver's license unless the department determines that the applicant is not qualified to hold a driver's license under this title; or
     (b) All or any part of the examination involving operating a motor vehicle if the applicant:
     (i) Surrenders a valid driver's license issued by the person's previous home state; or
     (ii) Provides for verification a valid driver's license issued by a foreign driver licensing jurisdiction with which the department has an informal agreement under RCW 46.20.125; and
     (iii) Is otherwise qualified to be licensed.
     (2) Fee. Each applicant for a new license must pay an examination fee of twenty dollars.
     (a) The examination fee is in addition to the fee charged for issuance of the license.
     (b) "New license" means a license issued to a driver:
     (i) Who has not been previously licensed in this state; or
     (ii) Whose last previous Washington license has been expired for more than five years.
     (3) An application for driver's license renewal may be submitted by means of:
     (a) Personal appearance before the department; or
     (b) Mail or electronic commerce, if permitted by rule of the department and if the applicant did not renew his or her license by mail or by electronic commerce when it last expired. ((However, the department may accept an application for renewal of a driver's license submitted by means of mail or electronic commerce only if specific authority and funding is provided for this purpose by June 30, 2004, in the omnibus transportation appropriations act.))
     (4) A person whose license expired or will expire while he or she is living outside the state, may:
     (a) Apply to the department to extend the validity of his or her license for no more than twelve months. If the person establishes to the department's satisfaction that he or she is unable to return to Washington before the date his or her license expires, the department shall extend the person's license. The department may grant consecutive extensions, but in no event may the cumulative total of extensions exceed twelve months. An extension granted under this section does not change the expiration date of the license for purposes of RCW 46.20.181. The department shall charge a fee of five dollars for each license extension;
     (b) Apply to the department to renew his or her license by mail or, if permitted by rule of the department, by electronic commerce even if subsection (3)(b) of this section would not otherwise allow renewal by that means. If the person establishes to the department's satisfaction that he or she is unable to return to Washington within twelve months of the date that his or her license expires, the department shall renew the person's license by mail or, if permitted by rule of the department, by electronic commerce.
     (5) If a qualified person submits an application for renewal under subsection (3)(b) or (4)(b) of this section, he or she is not required to pass an examination nor provide an updated photograph. A license renewed by mail or by electronic commerce that does not include a photograph of the licensee must be labeled "not valid for identification purposes."
     (6) Driver training schools licensed by the department under chapter 46.82 RCW may administer the portions of the driver licensing examination that test the applicant's knowledge of traffic laws and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.
     (7) School districts that offer a traffic safety education program under chapter 28A.220 RCW may administer the portions of the driver licensing examination that test the applicant's knowledge of traffic laws and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle.

Sec. 5   RCW 46.20.515 and 2003 c 41 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The motorcycle endorsement examination must emphasize maneuvers necessary for on-street operation, including emergency braking and turning as may be required to avoid an impending collision.
     (2) The examination for a two-wheeled motorcycle endorsement and the examination for a three-wheeled motorcycle endorsement must be separate and distinct examinations emphasizing the skills and maneuvers necessary to operate each type of motorcycle.
     (3) The department may authorize an entity that has entered into a contract under RCW 46.20.520 to administer the motorcycle endorsement examination.
     (4) The department may waive all or part of the examination for persons who satisfactorily complete the voluntary motorcycle operator training and education program authorized under RCW 46.20.520 or who satisfactorily complete a private motorcycle skills education course that has been certified by the department under RCW 46.81A.020.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 46.82 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Driver training schools may administer the portions of the driver licensing examination that test the applicant's knowledge of traffic laws and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle as authorized under RCW 46.20.120(6).
     (2) The director shall adopt rules to regulate the administration of the knowledge and driving portions of the driver licensing examination. The rules must include, but are not limited to, the following provisions:
     (a) Limitations or requirements that determine which driver training schools may administer the knowledge portion of the examination;
     (b) Limitations or requirements that determine which driver training schools may administer the driving portion of the examination;
     (c) Requirements for the content and method of conducting the examinations to ensure consistency with industry practices;
     (d) Requirements for recordkeeping;
     (e) A requirement that all driver training school employees conducting driver licensing examinations meet the same qualifications and education and training standards as department employees who conduct such examinations, to the extent necessary to conduct the written and driving skills portions of the examinations;
     (f) Requirements related to whether a driver training school staff member may provide both driver training instruction and the driver licensing examination to any one student;
     (g) Requirements for retesting and expiring examination results;
     (h) Requirements for the department to monitor outcomes for applicants who take a driver licensing examination through a driver training school and to make the outcomes available to the public;
     (i) Requirements for annual auditing, which must include the collection of current information regarding insurance, curriculums, instructors' names and licenses, and a selection of random student files to review for accuracy; and
     (j) Sanctions for violations of the rules adopted under this section.
     (3) Before a driver training school may provide a portion of the driver licensing examination, it must enter into an agreement with the department that, at a minimum, contains provisions that:
     (a) Allow the department to conduct random examinations, inspections, and audits without prior notice;
     (b) Allow the department to conduct on-site inspections at least annually;
     (c) Allow the department to test, at least annually, a random sample of the drivers approved by the driver training school for licensure and to cancel any driver's license that may have been issued to any driver selected for testing who refuses to be tested; and
     (d) Reserve to the department the right to take prompt and appropriate action against a driver training school that fails to comply with state or federal standards for a driver licensing examination or to comply with any terms of the agreement.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   In communications facilitating the transition to driver training schools and school districts administering portions of the driver licensing examination, the department of licensing shall include at least one representative from each stakeholder group, including the superintendent of public instruction, driver training schools, the unions representing licensing services representatives, and the Washington state school directors' association.