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Update on the Latest Solutions to Combat Temporary Tag Fraud at the Capitol

Solutions to the temporary tag issue continue to take shape at the Capitol. Recently, TIADA reported on the conversation ongoing at the Capitol in which some people are proposing to eliminate paper tags altogether. On May 2, the bill to eliminate paper tags passed the House and will become law if it passes the Senate and is signed by Governor Greg Abbott. The response to that article was overwhelming, so we are doing this follow-up article to provide some more information as discussions progress.

Prior to 2021, TxDMV did not believe they had the power to shut off access to the temporary tag system in instances of fraud without going through the entire administrative process, which resulted in bad actors having access to the temporary tag system for too long. During the 2021 Legislative Session, the legislature passed HB 3927, which gave TxDMV more control over the temporary tag system by allowing the shut-off of temporary tag access quickly and the ability to limit the number of temporary tags available to users of the system.
The fix with the legislature did not stop there as after that legislative session, much work was done at the administrative level to address fraud within the temporary tag system. At the start of 2022, TxDMV had a major leadership change which has resulted in a stronger effort to combat temporary tag fraud. Here is a quick timeline of what happened most recently:

Now, the legislature is considering other measures, such as eliminating paper temporary tags, providing a notice on the tag itself, and increasing penalties for fraudulent tags. TIADA recently attended a public hearing and testified in Senate Transportation about the proposed solution of eliminating paper tags and using only metal tags. TIADA's testimony provided information on how paper temporary tags are much less prevalent than before we started this process. For the quarter starting in September 2021, over 1.5 million temporary tags were issued through the system and just a year later, that number was right around 1 million temporary tags. As more ideas are kicked around to address this issue, TIADA will ensure dealers have a voice in the process and we will work to keep you informed of any changes that come out of this legislative session.   

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