Calif. awards L-1 $63 million pact

Cash-strapped California awarded Stamford-based L-1 Identity Solutions Inc. a $63 million contract to continue producing drivers”™ licenses for at least five years.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles holds options to extend the contract up to four additional years at a cost of $46 million. California issues more than 8 million driver”™s licenses annually.

L-1”™s system will include using electronic fingerprint devices to verify an applicant”™s identity at each step of the process, as well as to identify the DMV employee responsible for processing each applicant.

In the second quarter, L-1 had a $1.2 million loss as sales increased 16 percent to $168 million.