Uber-backed regulation bill clears first hurdle
By DANIEL DUCASSI 4:43 p.m. | Dec. 2, 2015 follow this reporter
TALLAHASSEE — The House highway and waterway safety subcommittee passed a bill that sets up a regulatory framework for car-hail app companies like Uber and Lyft, and would give the state the exclusive authority to regulate those companies.
The bill, which passed 10-1, is supported by Uber and has drawn criticism from cab companies.
Under the bill, car-hail companies would each have to pay $5,000 for a permit issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The bill (HB 509) would dictate requirements for the type of insurance drivers must have while working and would require companies to disclose how their fares are calculated, as well as their drivers' identities and license plate numbers.
It would also preempt local governments from regulating these companies.
Former Republican state senator Ellyn Bogdanoff spoke on behalf of cab companies and said the bill would create an "uneven playing field," putting cab companies at a competitive disadvantage. Bogdanoff also expressed safety concerns.
“We are seeing a whole boutique industry, gypsies, out there picking up passengers. … They say that they’re Uber but they’re not really Uber,” Bogdanoff said. “There’s a lot of concern there from a public safety stand point.”
Bogdanoff said he wasn’t opposed to the existence of Uber, but to how the bill would regulate ride-hail app companies relative to cab companies.
“We actually believe there is room for folks like Uber and Lyft,” she said. “We think that we can cohabitate in the state, but again, we can’t pick winners and losers."
The bill’s sponsor, Republican state representative Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach, said he’s open to deregulating the taxi industry, and would be receptive to amendments that would do it, but said the idea hasn’t received any response from cab companies.
"We ought to be for liberty for everybody," Gaetz said.
He also argued that companies like Uber promote public safety by providing a convenient option to avoid drinking and driving, and that the Uber system sets up a safer transaction for riders and drivers given information the app provides and the lack of cash, while taxis can present safety risks.
Meanwhile, Bogdanoff told reporters after the meeting that cab companies are working on amendment ideas, but declined to go into more detail.
The bill also elicited concern from the Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities, both of which oppose the preemption aspect of the bill.
Car-hail companies have faced a crackdown in some cities and counties at the urging of taxi companies. For months, the Broward County Commission battled with Uber, which pulled out of the county until the commission repealed some of its strictest regulations in October.
Democrat Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda of Tallahassee said she sees regulation of car hailing app companies as an occasion when preemption makes sense because cars often travel between cities.
The bill garnered support in the insurance industry with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America standing behind the bill.
Uber spokesman Bill Gibbons lauded the committee's approval of the bill, saying in a statement, "We hope Florida continues on this path and joins the more than twenty other states across the country that have created a permanent home for ridesharing with modern legislation for the industry."
Passage of the bill could make moot two lawsuits filed by cab companies against the state over regulation of companies like Uber.
Cab companies accuse state agencies of not holding car-hail companies accountable to the same regulations. One lawsuit accuses the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles of not enforcing insurance requirements when it comes to Uber, while another seeks to force the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to regulate car-hail apps like taxi meters.
Both agencies have moved to dismiss the lawsuits. DHSMV argues that Uber is complying with insurance regulations, while lawyers for the DACS insist that for such car-hail companies, "drivers' GPS devices are merely receivers for GPS radio signals; they do not calculate anything, nor do they indicate charges.”
Cab companies are calling for sanctions against DHSMV for making “frivolous arguments” in court filings, and argue that DACS is “required to inspect, test, and permit all measures used in commerce in the State of Florida, for example, if the measure is used to calculate distance and time."
A similar bill failed to pass last session.
Though the bill passed its first hurdle in the House, the bill still has no sponsor in the Senate.
Rep. Brad Drake, Republican of Eucheeanna, was the lone vote against the bill, which now heads to the economic affairs committee.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect tally of the committee vote. The correct tally is 10-1.
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