Seth A. Richardson

Reno Gazette-Journal

Ride-hailing companies say they are under assault again from Democrats in the Legislature after an amendment was added to a bill that the companies say would effectively end the services in Nevada.

Uber and Lyft, the largest ride-hailing companies in the state, already faced controversial legislation earlier in session they , including one bill that would have required a 15-minute wait time when a person requests a car.

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That provision was part of Senate Bill 226, but leadership killed it fairly quickly after a massive amount of pushback. The Senate passed an amended version dealing with some insurance and business licensing issues.

Assemblyman Richard Carrillo, D-Las Vegas, proposed to amend SB 226 late Friday night. The amendment that the companies have called a “death blow” requires drivers to hold five times the amount of insurance coverage as a taxi cab driver.

Drivers in the state by law have to hold $300,000 in coverage while carrying a passenger. Carrillo’s amendment ups that to $1.5 million for ride-hailing drivers only.

The amendment would also require more provisions that would be unique to the industry. Drivers would have to hold business licenses before they could even apply for a job with one of the companies.

The state does not require workers in any other industry to preemptively license.

Carrillo received at least $2,000 from the taxi cab industry in 2016.

Chelsea Harrison, a spokeswoman for Lyft, said the amendment would make operations in Nevada "nearly impossible."

"Singling out ridesharing with licensing requirements not placed on any other business in the state is a blatant attempt by the taxi industry to squash competition and innovation," she said. "We strongly urge the legislature to remove this amendment and instead work toward rules that prioritize public safety and expand consumer choice."

Robert Callahan, director of the Internet Association, said it was a naked attempt at stifling the new technology.

“This proposed regulatory scheme is nothing more than a thinly veiled effort to recreate the old taxicab monopoly by eliminating ridesharing services from the state,” he said in a statement. “If this proposal is passed, Nevada will become the only state in the nation to reject progress and better accessibility to transportation options for its residents.”

Ride-hailing has become a popular method of travel since its creation in the last decade. The taxi cab industry, a long-entrenched lobby in the state, has suffered massive ridership loss since Uber and Lyft officially came to the state in 2015.

The amendment was introduced late Friday night and had a committee hearing Monday morning, a holiday when the Legislature is largely empty.

The committee was only considering the fiscal note attached to the bill instead of the policy. Another portion of the bill puts regulation of the ride-hailing industry under the auspices of the Nevada Transportation Authority. The department said they would need around $3.8 million over the next biennium for new positions.

Nobody spoke in support while a number of drivers from Reno and Sparks testified against. The committee did not take any action on the bill.

Carrillo declined to comment on the policy.

This post has been updated with comments from Lyft.

Seth A. Richardson covers politics for the Reno Gazette-Journal. Like him on Facebook here or follow him on Twitter at @SethARichardson.

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