Matt Gaetz files legislation addressing Uber, Lyft

This past Friday, St. Petersburg City Council convened for nearly three hours in an attempt to set up regulations to create a legal framework that would require Uber and Lyft to comply with ordinances regarding taxi cabs and limousines.

It was the first time that local government had devoted a session to an issue that has been front and center throughout most of 2014 in Florida, after the two ride-sharing companies began operating in the Sunshine State.

Their entry into local markets has been a hit with the general population, but not at all with the taxi cab industry, nor in many cases with local lawmakers who have expressed concerns on a public safety level, in particular about the soundness of Uber and Lyft’s insurance and background check polices.

A bill just introduced in the Florida House by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, will attempt to deal with those issues in the upcoming Florida legislative session.

HB 817 provides requirements for operating as a transportation network company or for employment as transportation network company driver in the state, and it deals extensively with the insurance issue, which isn’t settled in Florida.

Last year the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (PTC) requested that state insurance regulators review Uber’s insurance policy to see whether it meets state standards.

Uber uses James River Insurance, which is authorized to do business in Florida.

In a memo the PTC, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) Deputy Chief of Staff Monte Stevens wrote that the Uber policy is in excess of the state limits required by taxicabs and livery services and provides similar coverage. However, he also wrote to PTC Chairman Kyle Cockream that “we do not know and express no opinion whether or not this policy, when combined with a personal auto policy of the driver, would provide the coverage required under the Florida Financial Responsibility Law.”

Stevens went on to say that such a determination resides with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV). But that agency never made any declarations regarding Uber’s insurance policy, apparently awaiting the Legislature to clarify the matter.

Last week the Hillsborough PTC members voted to pursue injunctive relief against Uber and Lyft after both companies failed to comply with a cease-and-desist letter issued at the end of December. That was the latest lawsuit to be filed against the two companies, following similar measures taken in Miami and Las Vegas.

The Gaetz bill also requires companies to conduct (or contact a third-party to conduct) a state and national background check that would include the Multi-State/Multi-Jurisdiction Criminal Records Locator or other similar commercial national database with validation, and to go through the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW), which provides information to the public on the whereabouts of registered sex offenders regardless of state boundaries.

It’s not the first time the Legislature has tried to address the ride-sharing issue. Last year, Tampa Bay area Republicans Jeff Brandes and Jamie Grant proposed a bill that would have let Uber and Lyft win approval to operate directly from the state DHSMV, bypassing local governments. When that failed to go anywhere, they amended it to allow Uber to operate in Tampa by restraining the influence of the PTC, but that, too, was unsuccessful.

Brandes is expected to unveil a Senate companion to Gaetz bill in the next few weeks.