Seeking to remodel the Division of Motor Vehicles, legislators Thursday rolled out a measure giving the agency a sleeker design and offering more options to drivers.

With the makeover, lawmakers hope to reduce the time motorists spend at local DMV offices to renew their driver's licenses and license tags. The proposal is the end product from a House study committee formed in May.

"In essence, it demands from DMV more accountability and more efficiency," said House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville. "It represents a major step to improve and change DMV to restructure it."

Momentum to restructure DMV began during the summer when offices were closed to install a new computer system. Despite the computer upgrade, long lines prevailed due to failures in the new system, causing a 2½-hour wait for some residents.

During the gubernatorial campaign, the candidates sparred in public debates about changes needed at the agency, which is a part of the Department of Public Safety.

Once elected, Gov. Mark Sanford appointed his own task force to tackle concerns including long lines and the agency's new computer system.

The proposal outlined by legislators incorporates some of the recommendations from Sanford's task force.

"DMV needs accountability - period," Sanford said in a statement. "I think this bill certainly provides that accountability, and I'm very encouraged by the similarities between this bill and a lot of the recommendations included in the task force report."

Some Democrats were also pleased with the bill.

"I'm glad to see they adopted many of the ideas already advanced by former Gov. (Jim) Hodges to improve the agency," said House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Richland.

Both Sanford's task force and the legislators recommend allowing driver's licenses to be issued for 10 years instead of five. They also want to allow residents to receive their vehicle registrations and decals at places other than the DMV - such as the county treasurer or insurance agents.

"As our population has grown, we have not changed some of the facilities and locations," said Rep. Ronald Townsend, R-Anderson, "So, this would spread out the number of locations across the state and also spread out the hours that people could have access to getting their registration and their tag."

In addition, both the task force and the legislators recommend severing DMV from its parent agency. Under the proposal, the DMV director would be a gubernatorial appointee like the head of a Cabinet agency.

"The director is accountable to the governor," said Townsend, who served as chairman of the study committee. "The governor has a direct input into making changes at DMV without having to go through DPS."

At present, the DPS director is appointed by the governor, but serves a fixed term.

Key Democrats say making the DMV director a Cabinet-level appointment is unnecessary, since the current structure allows the governor to shape performance at DMV offices.

"You can make these improvements. You can shorten the lines at DMV. You can make the director serve at the pleasure of the governor - or at the pleasure of the agency director - and not make it a Cabinet-level appointment," said Smith.