Contacting your state senator/rep?

[adamryan1978]

So, I am well past the 6 week processing time stated on the confirmation email I got from the DPS RSD and I am past the 60day mark. I spoke with a polite lady at the RSD yesterday and she told me they are running 12 weeks or more now. I know there has been an increase in applications from Dec thru Feb and RSD is overwhelmed, but I am losing my patience.

I am thinking about contacting my state rep/senator about the waits as I have read on here that others have done. I would like to know what others said and how they said it when they contacted their senators/reps? Also, did you contact them by email or phone?

Thanks,

[Raidmaxxx]

I waited until the 55 day mark and contacted the governor. If i had not heard anything in that long i wouldn't have heard anything at the 60 day mark either, and every time i called regardless of what they told me it was always "everything with your paperwork is fine" & "Please wait another 30 days".

About 2 hours after submitting an email to the Gov's office i received a reply email telling me they will look into this. 2 days after that i got a call back from a manager at DPS telling me they will be getting to my application within the next few days and will get it taken care of ASAP.

[TexasSully]

So, I am well past the 6 week processing time stated on the confirmation email I got from the DPS RSD and I am past the 60day mark. I spoke with a polite lady at the RSD yesterday and she told me they are running 12 weeks or more now. I know there has been an increase in applications from Dec thru Feb and RSD is overwhelmed, but I am losing my patience.

I am thinking about contacting my state rep/senator about the waits as I have read on here that others have done. I would like to know what others said and how they said it when they contacted their senators/reps? Also, did you contact them by email or phone?

Thanks,

In my case, I used the contact form on my State Reps website. Basically, I gave my timeline, reminding them that by statute, the department had 60 days to issue or notify me by mail that they needed additional time and the reason why. I respectfully asked that they assist me. I received a call within a couple of hours asking for more information and they made some calls on my behalf. While I did receive 2 calls from different people at the Department telling me I had been approved and expect my Card in 7 -14 days, it was still one day shy of 12 weeks after I was all in before my plastic arrived. I spoke with the owner of a BBQ joint I frequent yesterday who was all in 3 weeks before me and she just got hers the same day I got mine, so I think that my rep may have sped things up a bit. If you look through the waiting room posts or the 2016 timeline posts you will see some good examples of emails members sent to their reps.
Good Luck

[TexasSully]

I waited until the 55 day mark and contacted the governor. If i had not heard anything in that long i wouldn't have heard anything at the 60 day mark either, and every time i called regardless of what they told me it was always "everything with your paperwork is fine" & "Please wait another 30 days".

About 2 hours after submitting an email to the Gov's office i received a reply email telling me they will look into this. 2 days after that i got a call back from a manager at DPS telling me they will be getting to my application within the next few days and will get it taken care of ASAP.

My experience with the Gov's was similar except for the call from the DPS manager. I got a nice email saying they would contact the Director of the DPS and that someone would call me shortly. That was March 16th and I am still waiting on the call.

[Raidmaxxx]

I waited until the 55 day mark and contacted the governor. If i had not heard anything in that long i wouldn't have heard anything at the 60 day mark either, and every time i called regardless of what they told me it was always "everything with your paperwork is fine" & "Please wait another 30 days".

About 2 hours after submitting an email to the Gov's office i received a reply email telling me they will look into this. 2 days after that i got a call back from a manager at DPS telling me they will be getting to my application within the next few days and will get it taken care of ASAP.

My experience with the Gov's was similar except for the call from the DPS manager. I got a nice email saying they would contact the Director of the DPS and that someone would call me shortly. That was March 16th and I am still waiting on the call.

Well we will see what happens, that call from the DPS was about 2 days ago. So if nothing happens by the middle of next week i will go ahead and contact the appropriate reps, and see if they can get this sorted. Glad to hear that they were able to speed yours up a bit though , hopefully i will be fortunate.

[TexasSully]

I waited until the 55 day mark and contacted the governor. If i had not heard anything in that long i wouldn't have heard anything at the 60 day mark either, and every time i called regardless of what they told me it was always "everything with your paperwork is fine" & "Please wait another 30 days".

About 2 hours after submitting an email to the Gov's office i received a reply email telling me they will look into this. 2 days after that i got a call back from a manager at DPS telling me they will be getting to my application within the next few days and will get it taken care of ASAP.

My experience with the Gov's was similar except for the call from the DPS manager. I got a nice email saying they would contact the Director of the DPS and that someone would call me shortly. That was March 16th and I am still waiting on the call.

Well we will see what happens, that call from the DPS was about 2 days ago. So if nothing happens by the middle of next week i will go ahead and contact the appropriate reps, and see if they can get this sorted. Glad to hear that they were able to speed yours up a bit though , hopefully i will be fortunate.

Forum members that got a call after contacting the Gov's office report receiving their plastic within a week -10 days. You should be leaving the waiting room soon. Cheers

[Mavs00]

I personally would wait until after day 60 before contacting the state rep/gov's office. The RSD has 60 days and to call before that isn't being fair to them, nor is is fair to "gum" up the system for people who have legitimately been waiting MUCH longer than 60 days. Personally, I'm not all that convinced it helps all that much. I waited until day 63 (I'm at 77 right now), then called my state rep and the DPS director's office. No answer of course, but I left messages. Received a call back a few days later from both and they indicated that "I was in the system and they were beginning to work on apps from my week - Jan 15". They said to give it about 2 weeks more. Received a call from a DPS super exactly a week later who indicated that I was approved/sent to print and to please allow 7 days to receive.

My point is; so yeah I called, but I'm not sure how much it helped as pretty much everyone else who submitted in my time frame (some called and some didn't) are pretty much at the same stage. If I'm lucky, I'll receive my plastic at between day 80-83 (early next week), and that's seems to be pretty consistent with everyone else on here right now. I will admit, that it was good for my own peace of mind to know that they were working on my app, but did it do anything to hurry me along???? I'm not convinced.

Good luck.

[Raidmaxxx]

I personally would wait until after day 60 before contacting the state rep/gov's office. The RSD has 60 days and to call before that isn't being fair to them, nor is is fair to "gum" up the system for people who have legitimately been waiting MUCH longer than 60 days. Personally, I'm not all that convinced it helps all that much. I waited until day 63 (I'm at 77 right now), then called my state rep and the DPS director's office. No answer of course, but I left messages. Received a call back a few days later from both and they indicated that "I was in the system and they were beginning to work on apps from my week - Jan 15". They said to give it about 2 weeks more. Received a call from a DPS super exactly a week later who indicated that I was approved/sent to print and to please allow 7 days to receive.

My point is; so yeah I called, but I'm not sure how much it helped as pretty much everyone else who submitted in my time frame (some called and some didn't) are pretty much at the same stage. If I'm lucky, I'll receive my plastic at between day 80-83 (early next week), and that's seems to be pretty consistent with everyone else on here right now. I will admit, that it was good for my own peace of mind to know that they were working on my app, but did it do anything to hurry me along???? I'm not convinced.

Good luck.

Don't know what your going on about, regardless of what is fair i followed the proper channels, and because i contacted my rep, and wrote Mr. Abbott, i received a status change on the website and received a call from DPS telling me my license is in the mail. They have 60 days to issue a license, not 70. Not 80. 60. Either way, mine is on the way because i wrote my state officials. If i hadn't wrote anyone, i would still be waiting.

So here i am, after 58 days of waiting my status changed on the website, and the plastic is in the mail. If anyone else is having second thoughts about emailing their reps, just go ahead and do yourself a favor and email them now.

[mikezee1970]

I personally would wait until after day 60 before contacting the state rep/gov's office. The RSD has 60 days and to call before that isn't being fair to them, nor is is fair to "gum" up the system for people who have legitimately been waiting MUCH longer than 60 days. Personally, I'm not all that convinced it helps all that much. I waited until day 63 (I'm at 77 right now), then called my state rep and the DPS director's office. No answer of course, but I left messages. Received a call back a few days later from both and they indicated that "I was in the system and they were beginning to work on apps from my week - Jan 15". They said to give it about 2 weeks more. Received a call from a DPS super exactly a week later who indicated that I was approved/sent to print and to please allow 7 days to receive.

My point is; so yeah I called, but I'm not sure how much it helped as pretty much everyone else who submitted in my time frame (some called and some didn't) are pretty much at the same stage. If I'm lucky, I'll receive my plastic at between day 80-83 (early next week), and that's seems to be pretty consistent with everyone else on here right now. I will admit, that it was good for my own peace of mind to know that they were working on my app, but did it do anything to hurry me along???? I'm not convinced.

Good luck.

Mavs00, I agree. I've yet to call anybody and I doubt I will no matter what my timeline is. I, just like everyone else posting here, wish there was a way for us to check the progress of our application online without having to take someone's time away from what they are doing.

[Gnamaree02]

I personally would wait until after day 60 before contacting the state rep/gov's office. The RSD has 60 days and to call before that isn't being fair to them, nor is is fair to "gum" up the system for people who have legitimately been waiting MUCH longer than 60 days. Personally, I'm not all that convinced it helps all that much. I waited until day 63 (I'm at 77 right now), then called my state rep and the DPS director's office. No answer of course, but I left messages. Received a call back a few days later from both and they indicated that "I was in the system and they were beginning to work on apps from my week - Jan 15". They said to give it about 2 weeks more. Received a call from a DPS super exactly a week later who indicated that I was approved/sent to print and to please allow 7 days to receive.

My point is; so yeah I called, but I'm not sure how much it helped as pretty much everyone else who submitted in my time frame (some called and some didn't) are pretty much at the same stage. If I'm lucky, I'll receive my plastic at between day 80-83 (early next week), and that's seems to be pretty consistent with everyone else on here right now. I will admit, that it was good for my own peace of mind to know that they were working on my app, but did it do anything to hurry me along???? I'm not convinced.

Good luck.

Don't know what your going on about, regardless of what is fair i followed the proper channels, and because i contacted my rep, and wrote Mr. Abbott, i received a status change on the website and received a call from DPS telling me my license is in the mail. They have 60 days to issue a license, not 70. Not 80. 60. Either way, mine is on the way because i wrote my state officials. If i hadn't wrote anyone, i would still be waiting.

So here i am, after 58 days of waiting my status changed on the website, and the plastic is in the mail. If anyone else is having second thoughts about emailing their reps, just go ahead and do yourself a favor and email them now.

I'm at Day 83 & I communicated with my State Rep twice and sent email to Gov with a form letter auto-response, both with no progress. The call from DPS was not the management but a worker who basically told me I'd have to continue to wait. Oh but that's when I found out that "in processing" means it's sitting in someone's pile, and they have YET to touch it!

[cmac]

Don't know what your going on about, regardless of what is fair i followed the proper channels, and because i contacted my rep, and wrote Mr. Abbott, i received a status change on the website and received a call from DPS telling me my license is in the mail. They have 60 days to issue a license, not 70. Not 80. 60. Either way, mine is on the way because i wrote my state officials. If i hadn't wrote anyone, i would still be waiting.

So here i am, after 58 days of waiting my status changed on the website, and the plastic is in the mail. If anyone else is having second thoughts about emailing their reps, just go ahead and do yourself a favor and email them now.[/quote]


Yep. I'm with this guy. Did exactly as he did. Plastic was here within 10 days.

[mmoore1545]

i emailed my rep yesterday on day 83 and they emailed me back saying "I called the Department of Public Safety ,but was unable to reach them because of high call volume"

that is word for word what was in the email( not the whole email but the short story is that they did pretty much nothing)

[RETiffner]

My confirmation email was received 2/19. I'm torn on the subject between contacting or not myself. On one hand, of course I want my LTC now now now lol. But on the other I don't want mine pushed to the front and possibly hold off a December or Jan applicant to do mine (I'm impatient not selfish). Up to this point, I've been fairly good about giving it time, only checking for a status change maybe half a dozen times. Only then because I see applicants posting about all in dates comparable or later than mine. In this and in a previous incident, in which I had to get my drivers license reinstated and had many many questions as to the process btw don't forget about a ticket in Indiana, Texas WILL take your DL away 8 years later and fail to warn you, trying to get ahold of DPS for any status, inquiry etc is a huge headache largely due to lack of communication. Ultimately I would like to see that rectified. All in all, mostly seeing as how I just realized tomorrow is day 60 for me, as well as the fact that I'm laid up waiting on surgery and have nothing better to do, I do believe that I will send several emails addressing all of these concerns about RSD and just the LTC wait. I will keep you guys posted.

[RPBrown]

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=83734

[mkruck]

1 down, 2 to go. My state senator's office got back to me this evening, and paraphrasing her response: "Too bad, so sad. If you're license doesn't arrive in 120 days, please let us know and we'll call them". Hoping my state representative and the governors office gets back to me with something a little more substantial. Not asking for preferential treatment or moving to the top of the stack...just give me an up-to-date status. It's been 85 days, and people who submitted in February and March have already received their license.

I'm glad my expectations of my elected representatives were already low going in.