The state Senate is set to debate its version of a bill to regulate ride-hailing services like Lyft and Uber Wednesday. The provisions the chamber chooses to add, and how far the resulting bill ends up from regulations the House has already passed, will determine the challenge before lawmakers to reconcile a final bill in the waning weeks of the legislative session.
The bill the Senate will take up at 11 a.m. Wednesday would set up insurance minimums and lay out systems for background checks for drivers who use the popular ride-hailing apps, also called transportation network companies.
What the current bill doesn’t have is a mandate for adding fingerprinting to those background checks, something public safety officials and the competing taxi industry say is crucial to keeping riders safe.
Taxi drivers protested today at the State House to call on Senators to add more TNC regulations to the bill to put the new companies, as they say, on a level playing field with cabs. Dozens of cab drivers rallied to push amendments on driver fingerprinting, insurance requirements, more extensive background checks and specific license plates for TNC drivers, according to the State House News Service.
A key amendment to watch would allow cities and towns to create their own regulations for TNCs on top of what the state mandates. Such a law would then allow municipalities to add their own fingerprinting ordinance. If Boston were to move institute such a regulation, it could become a de facto requirement for all drivers working in Metro Boston.
Sen. Eileen Donoghue (D-Lowell) hasn’t made a final determination on whether to vote to add a fingerprinting provision to the bill but is concerned that the background checks laid out in the bill aren’t thorough enough.
“I’m not convinced that, in and of itself, the fingerprinting answers some of the questions in and around background checks,” Donoghue told WGBH News. “So right now I’m holding judgment.”
Donoghue doesn’t want to add another layer of regulation onto the TNC industry unless it would also apply to most taxi drivers.
“If the objection is that people aren’t playing by the same rules, then I don’t know why we’d make the rules more stringent on Uber and TNC carriers versus traditional taxis,” Donoghue said.
Uber Boston General Manager Chris Taylor thinks the Senate’s bill is a good step towards creating a workable regulatory system for TNCs and that as it stands, the Senate bill is a balanced way to keeping the popular driving alternatives growing here.
Uber’s manager has said the company could leave town if the state passes regulations they don’t like.
Taylor wouldn’t say if any of the proposed amendments would cause his company to cease operations here. He said some of the amendments that add stricter background checks or allow for fingerprinting would undermine the goals of the bill.
Uber and other companies have maintained that the background checks they already put drivers through are enough.
The House already passed a version of the regulations in March to create a new function of the Department of Public Utilities that would monitor the industry and driver licensing. Similar to the Senate’s version up for a vote Wednesday, the House’s version sets up a security background check that would disqualify driver applicants who have serious driving infractions or violent crimes on their records.
As the bill currently stands, it would mandate that TNC companies provide a way, through their app, to add a gratuity for a driver. An amendment filed by Sen. William Brownsberger would remove that mandate. Another amendments from Sen. John Keenan would stipulate that tipping a driver be available via the app only when the company prohibits cash tips.
