The House rejected an attempt Wednesday to create a Motor Vehicles commission and gave key approval to a bill that would overhaul the troubled state agency.

The bill, which passed on a 97-13 vote, requires a routine third reading before it is sent to the Senate for debate.

Lawmakers spent more than four hours debating the bill, which removes the Division of Motor Vehicles from the Public Safety Department and makes it a stand-alone Cabinet agency with the director appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate.

Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, unsuccessfully tried to make the DMV director answerable to commissioners appointed by the General Assembly. "The crux of the matter is who's going to run the agency," Altman said. "I vote for the Legislature."

The division came under fire last summer when a new computer system designed to streamline operations created longer lines at offices statewide.

Altman's amendment had the unlikely support of a number of Democrats who don't want DMV to be a Cabinet agency.

"I don't believe it rises to the level that it should be designated a Cabinet agency," said House Minority Leader James Smith, D-Richland. "We can still improve service, delivery and accountability and not separate that single agency to be a Cabinet-level agency."

But Rep. Jo Anne Gilham, R-Beaufort, and chairwoman of the subcommittee that worked on the bill, said DMV commissioners would create another level of government and expense that would be irresponsible in these tight budget times.

Many Democrats also disagreed with a portion of the bill that calls for moving the State Transport Police with the Division of Motor Vehicles.

The Transport Police are responsible for enforcing state and federal laws governing commercial motor vehicles and would be weakened if put under the auspices of the administrative Motor Vehicles agency, said Rep. John Scott, D-Richland.

"If they are burdened with enforcement even after the move, where's the gain?" said Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland. "I submit to you that the gain here is not in the public interest, but the gain is for the trucking industry, who stands to gain a loosening of enforcement on our highways and our roads."

Several amendments proposed to keep the Transport Police with Public Safety failed.

A task force appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford to study the agency said earlier this year that the DMV also had slow mail-in services, inefficient call centers, cramped offices and a multimillion-dollar computer system that is not completely functional.

"The governor is obviously pleased with this bill, particularly as it relates to the overall notion of accountability in government," Sanford spokesman Will Folks said.