Hartford — State lawmakers and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy are looking at ways that private entities, such as AAA, might improve service at the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles following a year of backlogs, long lines and other problems stemming from a major computer overhaul.

Malloy unveiled a bill Tuesday that would allow the DMV to enter into contracts with private contractors to provide vehicle registration services.

"Long wait times experienced by customers at DMV is simply unacceptable," the Democratic governor said, adding that it makes sense to have private contractors conduct routine transactions in order to reduce wait times.

Rep. Melissa Ziobron, R-East Haddam, welcomed Malloy's legislation but said even more of DMV's services could be handled by AAA or other entities, such as commercial driver's license and car dealership transactions. Currently, AAA only provides noncommercial driver's license services.

Ziobron has proposed a broad bill this session that would allow the state to privatize various operations at the DMV.

"We have a clear opportunity to shift some of the things we can do already within the system that we already have with AAA and we should be doing that," said Ziobron, adding how constituents often tell her they never had to wait in long lines at motor vehicles offices when they lived in other states.

"Frankly, I'm out in my community a lot, and I have so many people stopping me saying, 'What is going on with DMV,'" she said.

The agency experienced long waits and various problems following last summer's computer upgrade. For example, DMV erroneously suspended some vehicle registrations. Commissioner Andres Ayala Jr. resigned in January, acknowledging the past year had been challenging but saying he was proud of the improvements made.

Malloy also announced Tuesday that he wants to eliminate the current ban on issuing registrations for motor vehicles and other vehicles, such as snowmobiles, whose owners have parking tickets or delinquent property taxes. He said the state shouldn't be a collection agency for cities and towns.

Malloy said his proposal would address a substantial portion of the wait times for customers who have to make multiple visits to the DMV because they couldn't get a registration until their local taxes and parking tickets were paid.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities calls the proposal problematic.

"It would diminish both property tax revenues and ticket revenues for towns, revenues that the towns depend on to pay for essential service," said Kevin Maloney, a CCM spokesman. "Residents have an obligation to pay these taxes and fees to help ensure that towns can meet their service needs."