Transportation apps like Uber and Lyft will continue to face local regulations. The Florida legislature couldn’t reach a deal on how to regulate the industry statewide. Uber lobbyists blamed Senate President Andy Gardiner for blocking a House plan overriding local government rules. And it sent out mailers accusing Gardiner of having close ties to traditional taxi companies.
“If you get past the rhetoric and combing through old yearbooks and how the world is going to end because of me, we have bill that deals with what we’ve always said was the program, which is the liability insurance of Uber drivers. Plain and simple. They can pick out my baby pictures. I don’t care. It’s silly," Gardiner said.
Thursday evening, bills for Uber died, amid disagreement between the House and Senate on how to proceed. Republican Senator David Simmons of Maitland argues the House bill isn’t workable.
“The problem with the House bill…read it, it says local governments literally have no say in the regulation of TNC’s [transportation network companies]. And you’re talking about a huge responsibility placed upon the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.”
The House had laid out a plan that would have allowed the tech-based ride hailing programs to operate more freely. But the Senate focused its efforts on liability insurance issues.
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