Statewide rules for Uber, Lyft get boost in Senate

TALLAHASSEE — After the issue stalled the past t wo years in the Senate, a proposal that would create statewide regulations for companies such as Uber and Lyft got a boost Tuesday from a Senate committee.

Uber and Lyft have been lobbying heavily for the proposal (SB 340), which would override local regulations on the fast-growing industry. But with cities and counties long regulating taxi operators, groups such as the Florida League of Cities oppose the move to impose statewide rules for those appbased companies.

T h e S e n a t e B a n k i n g and Insurance Committee approved the bill, which includes insurance and background-check requirements for their drivers. In arguing for statewide regulations, bill sponsor Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, pointed, for example, to the possibility that 24 cities in Pinellas County could have different rules.

“It would be almost impossible to do business in Pinellas County under that type of regime,” Brandes said.

But Sen. George Gainer, a Panama City Republican who was a longtime Bay County commissioner, questioned why Uber and Lyft would be regulated at the state level, while taxi companies would continue to be re gulated locally. Gainer also said he thought it was important that counties have regulatory authority.

“I saw a big value in having local control over the taxis,” said Gainer, who opposed the bill.

The House during the past two years has pushed similar bills, but the issue got bottled up in the Senate, where former President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, wanted to more narrowly address issues such as insurance requirements for Uber and Lyft drivers. Gardiner left office in November.

Brandes’ bill still will need to get approval from t wo Senate committees before it could go to the full Senate. Meanwhile, the House version of the bill (HB 221) has received overwhelming support in a subcommittee and a committee and is ready to go to the House floor.

The Senate committee approved changes to the Senate version Tuesday that Brandes said lined it up more closely with the House bill.

ERIC RISBERG / AP The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee backs a bill that would create statewide — rather than local — regulations for ride-hailing firms like Uber.