LANSING, MI — Secretary of State branches across Michigan will soon open earlier and stay open later, as part of the effort to catch up on the appointment backlog caused by the pandemic.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson held a press conference Wednesday to announce two changes and new mobile service offices coming to the department that aim to provide more in-person service opportunities for residents and work through the existing backlog.
Beginning July 19, SOS branches will be open at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays and will stay open until 6 p.m. Mondays and Thursdays. The move will allow branches to serve thousands more residents each week, Benson said. Currently branches are typically open 9-5 weekdays.
Residents can schedule these appointments online, in-person or over the phone starting 2 p.m. on Wednesdays when the extra hours for the entire following week become available.
“This will expedite the process of working through the renewal backlog that I mentioned earlier by providing in-person services to an additional 120,000 Michigan residents between now and the end of the fiscal year,” Benson said.
The total number of customers could be twice as large as the 120,000 residents the SOS anticipates serving had the Legislature had supported the SOS-backed amendment to use $5 million of federal COVID-19 dollars to fund additional costs for staff to work extra hours, according to Benson.
Benson has called on the state Legislature to use federal aid to boost staffing at Secretary of State branches to help address the backlog created during the pandemic.
After the Legislature rejected the amendment before entering its summer break, Benson said her department delayed other projects to pull together about $2.5 million to add additional hours, she said.
The photo renewal process will also undergo changes, Benson announced Wednesday.
Photo renewals, which typically require an in-person visit to a branch for licenses and ID’s, will be required every 12 years, instead of every eight.
“Michigan drivers and ID holders will be able to conduct their next renewal from the comfort of their own home using our online services, or at a grocery store,” Benson said.
There are more than 150 self-service stations across the state where these services can be utilized.
Benson also announced her departments plan to deploy mobile service offices, “mini offices,” that can go directly to senior centers, places of worship and other community places where people already are.
“What I’d like ultimately have happen is, for example, senior centers throughout the state know that one day a month, they know there’s going to be a branch office in their parking lot that they can come to and have access to services,” Benson said, adding that the department will announce more details in coming months.
Conversations with state representatives and branch employees have been the catalyst for the changes to the department, Benson said, as she continues to defend the appointment based system against disapproval from Republicans.
Benson blamed the Legislature Wednesday for the backlog that has continued even as pandemic restrictions have been mostly lifted.
In June, the department added 350,000 new appointments to its website at branch offices through September amid criticism from Republican lawmakers pushing the department to restore walk-in appointments.
The Secretary of State was able to add the appointments following discussions with branch workers, who, “concerned about the chatter here in Lansing to revert back to a broken, ‘take a number’ system, suggested that they could work harder and faster to be able to handle more transactions each day efficiently and quickly,” Benson said.
READ MORE FROM MLIVE:
Michigan Secretary of State adds 350,000 new appointments amid criticism over pandemic backlog
Benson not backing down on requiring appointments at Michigan Secretary of State offices
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