Gunn, who is known to be against the transfer of duties for license renewal from the Department of Public Safety, to the Secretary of State, attended the Mississippi State University Stennis Institute of Government Capitol luncheon, where Watson was the guest speaker. Gunn was not a guest speaker at the luncheons before. Watson spoke out to acknowledge Gunn’s disagreement. Watson, who was a three-term state senator, acknowledged that it was difficult to pass legislation making major changes. He said, “But that’s OK. That’s part of the process.” Watson acknowledged that moving services to his office may not be the solution legislative leaders are looking for to address the long waits at many locations in the state to renew drivers’ licenses. However, he stated that he believes that the Secretary of State’s Office is the best agency to oversee the issuing and renewal of identification cards. The office provides similar services to businesses. The Secretary of State’s Office can also play a part in this process as people can register to vote during renewal of their license. During his campaign for secretary-of-state, Watson suggested the transfer. Two weeks ago, as Watson was drafting legislation, Gunn issued a statement to Mississippi Today by Emily Simmons, his spokesperson. She stated that while the speaker is committed in seeing improvements at the state driver’s license bureaus but he doesn’t support shifting oversight to the Secretary-of-State’s office. Gunn believes that the services can best be improved within the Department of Public Safety. The ultimate goal is to make it as efficient for Mississippians as possible. Gunn introduced his own legislation which would require the Department of Public Safety mail notices to renew driver’s licenses within 30 days of expiration. It would also allow people to renew their license online, regardless of how old the license has been. Rep. Charles Busby (R-Pascagoula) also introduced a bill to keep services within the Department of Public Safety. However, it would require several steps such as allowing certified personnel to administer driver’s license tests at schools to replace the need for them to be taken to a bureau. Notifications of forms that are required to renew and obtain licenses would be sent to the state Personnel Board. Also, the requirement to establish job qualifications from certain personnel working in the driver license bureaus. Simmons stated that Gunn and Busby have been working together for over a year on a legislative solution to the problem. The primary goal of the legislation, Simmons explained, is to improve the efficiency of the process for commercial drivers’ license acquisition. Over the years, Department of Public Safety officials said that funding problems were the main reason for delays. Watson suggested Monday that it may be time for other vendors to assist with some aspects of the process. Watson stated that he believes that the same vendor manages the kiosks from which licenses can be renewed as well as the computer system that generates them. The Legislature’s Performance Evaluation and Expenditure review Committee released a December report that noted an increase in wait times at bureaus of between 11 and 93 minutes at the Gulfport offices and one to two hours and twenty minutes at the Jackson offices. According to the report, the delays were caused by vacancies in the division (up from 20 percent up to 30 percent) and problems with the new interfacing of the federal system with the computer system. The Legislature allocated additional funds during the 2019 session for additional examiners. The PEER report also acknowledged that Public Safety is making improvements to the process.