New York State Assembly members confident Uber bill will pass

After the New York State Senate on Monday passed a bill that would allow ride-hailing services to operate in upstate New York, New York State Assembly members have expressed that the Assembly will passing a similar bill later this year.

Uber has aggressively expanded into the nation’s metropolitan areas since the company’s founding in 2009. Other companies, such as Lyft, have taken a similar approach. Upstate New York is one of the last areas in the United States where ride-hailing companies are still unable to operate because of a restriction in state insurance law.

But the Senate bill would establish a Transportation Network Company Accessibility Task Force that would include ride-hailing service drivers in workers’ compensation insurance offered through the existing Black Car Fund, an injury compensation fund that gives benefits to drivers in New York City.

The bill would also establish a 2 percent tax on ride-hailing trips, require ride-hailing drivers to go through criminal and driving history background checks, mandate passenger notifications of driver information and trip charges, and create “zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies,” according to the Senate website.

If the ride-hailing bills are passed in both houses, the bills will be combined in a conference committee, where differences between the Assembly and Senate bills are streamlined. Both houses vote on the revised bill before it is presented to New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo for approval.

In June 2016, the Senate passed similar legislation that would have brought companies like Uber and Lyft to upstate New York, but debates over ride-hailing insurance policies stalled the bill in the Assembly.

Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, who sponsored the Assembly’s stalled ride-hailing bill in 2016, said in an email that he is confident the Assembly will pass a new ride-hailing bill this year.

Unlike last year, Cuomo’s recently-released 2017 budget includes a fiscal outline for a ride-hailing bill as well, said Assemblyman John McDonald III.

“There was not really a lot of engagement from the executive during the last year, which I think led to the stall,” McDonald said. Now that the bill has the governor’s support, McDonald added it will be easier to pass the bill in the Assembly.

McDonald also said the Assembly will need to address local control over taxi and ride-hailing laws because Uber and Lyft riders might cross over city boundaries.

“We’re a more mobile society than we were 30 or 40 years ago,” he said.

The Senate bill passed on Monday includes a provision establishing a task force to ensure ride-hailing companies will accommodate riders with disabilities. Many advocacy groups have expressed concerns that ride-hailing apps would not have an audio component for blind riders and that disabled riders would be charged more than regular riders if they needed help with a wheelchair.

The Assembly’s ride-hailing bill will come after its budget is released. A spokeswoman for Cahill said the Assembly is currently reviewing the governor’s budget and might respond with its own budget as early as March.

Current New York state laws make it difficult for Uber and Lyft to provide their drivers with insurance coverage as they do in other states. Uber has been legally operating in New York City since 2011, but state law prohibits the company from operating outside of the city.

Uber and Lyft have been pursuing aggressive lobbying campaigns to push the state to adopt regulations for ride-hailing services. In the first half of 2016, Uber spent more than $750,000 lobbying New York lawmakers and was one of the top 10 lobbyists in the state, according to a report from the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

Taxi companies and driver advocacy groups said they oppose the new ride-hailing regulations.

Mark Ilacqua, a spokesman for the Upstate Transportation Association — an advocacy group representing upstate New York taxi drivers — said the Senate bill’s lack of a fingerprinting requirement endangers riders.

In Syracuse, taxi drivers must be vetted by the police department before drivers can work, Ilacqua said. The background check includes fingerprinting.

Fingerprinting is required for Uber drivers to operate in New York City, but it is not mentioned in the background check requirements included in the Senate bill.

“We’re not opposed to Uber expanding upstate, but all we’ve been calling for is that Uber and Lyft comply with the same regulations that they’re currently complying with in New York City,” Ilacqua said.

Despite these fears, McDonald said public support for ride-hailing has not been an issue.

“Nine of 10 of my constituents are fully supportive (of ride-hailing),” McDonald said.