HAYNEVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A group on Thursday called on Alabama to reopen rural driver’s license offices more than one day each month.

Shouting “No shut downs” legislators and activists held a series of news conferences in the state’s Black Belt saying once monthly service is inadequate for people in the isolated and impoverished region of the state.

“One day a month is not enough,” Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said. “If you miss out that day, or it is too crowded, then you have to wait another whole month or go to another county. If you are already poor, getting someone to take you another county, costs a lot.”

Sanders said the closures make it harder for people to get a license that they can use to drive, vote or get a job.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency last month announced that because of budget cuts it was closing 31 rural offices where state workers had typically given driving exams once-a-week.

The decision left 28 counties without a license office, including eight of the state’s 11 counties with a majority African-American population. After a backlash, the state announced it would reopen the 31 offices once monthly beginning in November.

Lowndes County Commission Chairman Robert Harris said the drive to a full-time office in Selma or Montgomery can be difficult for people who are trying to arrange time away from work or who don’t have their own transportation.

Harris said the county was willing to help to try to reopen the offices.

The closures affect the issuance of first-time permits and licenses. License renewals and replacements are handled by county workers.

ALEA said the 31 offices handled less than five percent of transactions. The rural offices issued anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred licenses each year. The 31 locations in 2014 collectively issued 5,000 learners permits, 3,149 driver’s licenses and gave 10,587 permit exams, according to numbers from the law enforcement agency.

While state officials said the closures were necessary because of budget cuts, critics said the closures saved little money while creating a hardship for people. ALEA said the closures saved $100,000 in travel costs to the offices that were typically located in county-owned buildings.

Sanders charged there was not a fiscal reason to merit the shutdowns so the reason must be political.

Gov. Robert Bentley has said state service reductions were necessary because Alabama legislators, who rejected his call for larger tax increases, did not adequately fund state services.

“An important question should be asked of Senator Sanders: Did Senator Sanders vote for increased revenue to adequately fund ALEA? He did not. In addition, the Governor’s Office shared with legislators multiple times the impacts of budget cuts, and still no effort was made by Senator Sanders to adequately fund ALEA,” Bentley Communications Director Jennifer Ardis said.

“The Governor is concerned about every portion of Alabama being impacted by the budget cuts, and will continue to work with the Legislature as he did before toward solutions to solve our budget shortfalls,” Ardis said.