Without public pressure from any Republican legislator except State Senator Dave Syverson, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, a Democrat, has lessened the restrictions placed on Illinois drivers seeking renewal of their licenses.

That’s what the Daily Herald reports:

Secretary of state’s office makes changes amid complaints about appointment system

Secretary of state deploys more resources, opens two senior centers to handle new appointment system.

Some seniors report frustration with redo. Full Story

It is so strange that Republican legislators are not in the forefront of the effort to make renewals more

• five-day-a-week worker- and
• senior citizen-friendly.

To make it easier for seniors, the Democrat has allowed two locations for walk-ins:

• SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview and
• the Evanston Civic Center

Fat lot of improvement for Fox Valley seniors or for those who work Monday through Friday.

Here is the comment found in the Daily Herald storyj from a Mt. Prospect resident:

“We called 14 times and the answer is: ‘The queue is full,'” said Burger, 84. “The only time that a person answered — we were offered a slot that was in Quincy. Is this the way the government treats seniors? Such disrespect.”

Locally,

Ronald D’Antonio of Huntley “tried for a week to get an appointment in either Woodstock or Elgin. Needless to say, it was to no avail,” he said Tuesday.

“After a week, I managed to get an appointment in Belvidere. I guess I ended up trading a wait in Elgin or Woodstock for a 45-minute drive, each way, to Belvidere. Even at that, I waited 35 minutes past my appointment time.

The article reports that State Senator Don DeWitte’s office has not fielded any complaints.

I still like the campaign promise my 2002 Libertarian Party Secretary of State running mate Matt Beauchamp made:

In and out in fifteen minutes or it’s free.