Uber. | AP Photo Car-hail draft legislation pre-empts local regulation, funds MTA

ALBANY — Localities would be able to ban, but not regulate, car-hail services like Uber, according to draft legislation privately circulating among Capitol lawmakers and obtained by POLITICO New York.

The legislation, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office drafted and hopes could be considered as early as this week in a special session that also raises lawmaker salaries, would not affect the way car-hail companies operate in New York City, but would pave the way for them to come upstate.


The bill sets minimum liability insurance coverage requirements of $100,000 for drivers using apps and $1 million when they have picked up a passenger — matching a standard adopted by 43 states but falling short of higher minimums advocated by Democrats who dominate the state Assembly.

The bill would charge residents outside of New York City 50 cents per trip. Fees from trips originating in suburban counties serviced by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs subways buses and commuter trains in greater New York City, would be directed to its operations. MTA officials have said the growth of Uber is hurting their bottom line because it supplants taxi riders who pay the fee in New York City.

Fees from trips originating further upstate would be directed to other public transportation authorities.

POLITICO obtained drafts of the 22-page bill dated Wednesday and Thursday of last week, when they were circulated from Cuomo’s office to legislative leaders. Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi said negotiations are ongoing, and several lobbyists said more recent drafts existed but declined to share them.

"These are old drafts and it’s not uncommon to have many draft proposals flying around as negotiations continue,” Azzopardi said.

According to the drafts, the bill would provide workers compensation for drivers hurt on the job using the existing Black Car Fund, a compromise that offers security to workers while recognizing they are contractors, not employees, of car-hail companies. Both drafts would require that companies perform background checks on their drivers, which Uber already does, and the first draft did not require drivers to be fingerprinted, as opponents have demanded. A subsequent draft does.

But the outlines of the legislation show where negotiations are heading, and drew a series of reactions.

“It's generally encouraging that Albany leaders are finally coming together to work on a plan to bring ridesharing to New Yorkers who are demanding it,” Alix Anfang, a spokeswoman for Uber, said. “We're hopeful that the final outcome will allow us to operate in Upstate communities.”

John Tomassi, president of the Upstate Transportation Association — which represents cab and livery companies — said the bill was a "non-starter" because drivers are not fingerprinted. They are in New York City, which is Uber's biggest U.S. market and is the rare municipality that has the requisite financial and regulatory muscle to force Uber and Lyft to operate as a traditional for-hire car service, complete with the Taxi & Limousine Commission-mandated driver fingerprinting.

“This bill is a non-starter because it doesn’t even include the basic passenger protections already provided in New York City," Tomassi said. "That clear disregard for public safety shows that Uber’s corporate office must have had a hand in writing the bill. Upstate riders deserve to be just as safe as New York City riders – and that means requiring fingerprint background checks for every ridesharing driver statewide.”

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, whose Democratic colleagues are seen as the biggest stumbling block to ride-sharing, told reporters on Monday he would like to see it extended upstate.

“For us in the Assembly, it’s not just about allowing it to happen, there’s other things that have to be looked at. We want to make sure that people are safe — that drivers are safe, potential passengers are safe — and some of that, I think, is getting lost in this debate,” Heastie, a Democrat from the Bronx, said. “We’d love to have ride-sharing in all parts of the state outside of New York. We’re looking to try to get it done. … I think if people are willing to be flexible and compromise then it could happen. But if people believe just, that their position is what it has to be, then I don’t know if we’ll get there.”

Here is the draft from Dec. 14: http://politi.co/2hNLCf6

Here is the draft from Dec. 15: http://politi.co/2h3I4UQ

CORRECTION: While the original story stated the legislation did not include fingerprinting, one version of the legislation included in the story did. And while the legislation would direct the 50-cent surcharge from Uber rides within the metropolitan commuter transportation district to the MTA, the money derived from the surcharge farther upstate would go to a separate account.