Illinois secretary of state wants to sell ads on vehicle registration notices to bring in money

Amid a long-running budget battle, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White is asking lawmakers to give him a tool to make ends meet: allowing advertising on vehicle registration reminders that are mailed out to millions of homes each year.

The idea is to avoid a repeat of October 2015, when White's office temporarily stopped mailing the annual renewal notices, citing a lack of funding because of the impasse. During the 10 months the mailers didn't go out, the number of people fined for failing to register their vehicles in time skyrocketed, leaving drivers on the hook for millions of dollars in late fees.

Lawmakers eventually approved some money that allowed the secretary of state to resume the mailings, but that measure expired Jan. 1. White spokesman Dave Druker said the notices will continue for the time being but said money eventually will be necessary to keep them going.

The office has tried to push email reminders to cut down on costs and prevent fines, but just 2.5 million drivers have signed up. Around 9.6 million renewal notices are mailed each year. It costs roughly $450,000 a month in postage to send those reminders. Druker said the hope is much of that cost could be covered if lawmakers approved legislation that would allow companies to purchase advertising space on the notices.

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-jesse-white-drivers-license-advertising-met-20170204-story.html