By Pacific Island Times News Staff
A military official is seeking an exemption for service members from the requirement to obtain a Guam driver’s license, citing several other stressors associated with relocation and transition.
Lt. Commander Joseph Horton of the Joint Region Marianas noted that Guam is one of the only two U.S. jurisdictions that do not waive the license-switch policy for military personnel or their spouses.
“Imagine the first 30 days on the island, service members are checking into new commands, spouses are searching for jobs, they're looking for housing, purchasing vehicles, registering children for school and establishing new daily routines,” Horton said.
“A day in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles can exacerbate the already difficult period,” he added.
Guam law requires all drivers to apply for a local driver's license within 30 days upon arrival on island. A license from another U.S. state or territory may be honored on Guam within 30 days. After that period, the existing licenses must be surrendered and replaced with a Guam license.
“Having surrendered their home state licenses, they will need to repeat this process at their next location when their Guam licenses expire, unnecessarily adding more stress to the next move as well as this one,” Horton said Friday, testifying at a public hearing on Sen. Dwayne San Nicolas’ Bill 224-37.
The bill proposes waiving the driver’s license fees for spouses of active-duty military service members.
“Military families make tremendous sacrifices in support of their loved ones who serve our country,” San Nicolas said. “By waiving this fee and easing some of the financial
burdens associated with relocating, we can help make the transition smoother for them when they stay on our island.”
Horton recommended that the bill be amended to “eliminate the license requirement for service members and their spouses” altogether.
“While local authorities do not regularly impose the requirement on service members, this courtesy is neither codified in the law nor extended to spouses,” he said.
Besides Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands is another territory that does not provide license waivers for U.S. military members.
Horton said waiving the license-switch requirement would be “a mutually beneficial way to support military families, foster compliance with Guam's laws, and save the finite government of Guam resources.”
Guam will host 5,000 Marines, who will be relocated from Okinawa. The first tranche is scheduled to arrive by the end of the year.
Randy Sablan, JRM’s senior advisor for regional political-military affairs, backed Horton’s recommended amendment to San Nicolas' bill.
He explained that the Marines relocating to Guam would be stationed
under different deployment terms.
Of the 5,000 units, 2,000 would make up the traditional permanent-change-of-station personnel, who would bring their families along and stay for a longer period of time, Sablan said.
Roughly 3,000 units would be on Guam on a rotational basis for a period of six months.
“So you can imagine that those Marines at some point on their time off would like to enjoy our island, tour the island, go to the restaurants, avail themselves of hotels, and all the things that Guam has to offer,” Sablan said.
“And since they don't own a car, they'll probably go and rent a car, which is a good sort of revenue stream for our economy,” he added.
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