TexasCHLforum.com

Thanks for the info Jim. One question though:

seamusTX wrote:All Representatives and half the Senators will face elections in November. Therefore, any letters or phone calls to them at this time are likely to go on a pile and not make a difference.

Shouldn't this mean that since they are up for election, they would want to make us happy so that we re-elect them? Therefore our letters and phone calls would have even more sway than they usually do?

Interesting Chas. Losing reciprocity with other states is pretty significant, so if I had to weigh the two (getting license within 60 days vs. getting reciprocity) I'd definitely wait for the reciprocity.

Can you explain to me why writing representatives and senators will not help at this point? I suppose changes in budget/administration/management need to be approved by state congress, so why not at least let our elected officials know what we think? I'm not too familiar with the budgetary process for bureaucracies, so your enlightenment would be helpful.

As for changing the law to extend the processing times to 100 days or more, I see this as a distinct possibility, but how would legislators accept that when other states (from what I've read on the forum or otherwise) seem to process applications in a more timely fashion? I could imagine a significant backlash that would be associated with that. Imagine renewals taking 120 days, while you only get to renew within 6 months of your birthday.

lunchbox wrote: where would we even go to wright our rep or even find out who our rep is

Try this link: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/

lunchbox wrote:

bdickens wrote:Why not write to your State representatives about it?

i would say thats a good idea but as chas explained to me this wont be able to be fixed till some time in 2009
as far as the state congress goes

That's fine too, if it won't be fixed until 2009, but in the meantime let's get momentum for it by writing our reps to make sure that when the time comes, effective changes are implemented

I personally think there are more effective ways of enacting change than trying a civil suit against a bureaucracy, but as I waited for my CHL I pondered the following:

What if you were waiting over 60 days for your CHL application and were robbed and/or injured by a criminal because you were unable to defend yourself? Could DPS be held partially responsible since they are supposed to issue the license within 60 days but failed to do so?

Again, I don't recommend suing DPS as I think that would be a waste of time and money, but just food for thought.