Bigger Boondoggle, MNLARS or Kirk Cousins?
The Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) was supposed to be the future for our state. Instead of long lines, bad waiting room music, and having to take time off work to run to the DVS, MNLARS promised all of these functions could be easily, and affordably, be transferred over to an efficient, secure, online service.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out that way. MNLARS has gotten better since its disastrous roll-out in 2017, but it is hard to argue the service is worth the $93 million already paid out for the program. What’s worse, officials from the Dayton Administration estimated the additional cost to fix the broken system would be approximately $43 million, bringing the total cost of the program to $136 million.
Whether MNLARS has been a bigger boondoggle than Kirk Cousins, I’ll leave that for the reader to decide.