Under legislation
passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, private car companies such
as Uber and Lyft would be exempt from local regulation; however, the companies
would see a major increase in licensing fees each year. The legislation, which
was reported from the House Commerce and Trade Committee, would raise yearly
license costs for Transportation Network Companies well beyond the originally
proposed price of $5,000 up to $30,000.
The package, which
includes House
Bill 4637, HB,
4638, HB
4639, HB
4640, and HB
4641, would still require drivers to carry minimum levels of insurance
while on the job and would ban these services from operating in areas
designated for taxi companies. An amendment proposed by Representative Erika
Geiss (D-Taylor) to exempt airports from the new regulations was denied during
committee hearings on Tuesday. Representative Andy Schor (D-Lansing) offered an
amendment to exempt preexisting agreements between Uber and the city of
Detroit; however, Mr. Schor’s amendment was also rejected during the committee
hearing.
The House Commerce
and Trade Committee reported the package of bills largely along partisan lines,
with HB
4638, HB
4639, HB
4640 and HB
4641 passing by a 10-7 vote margin. Representatives LaTanya Garrett
(D-Detroit) and Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) abstained from voting.
Representatives Garrett and Moss were joined by fellow Democrat Representative
Leslie Love (D-Detroit) in abstention on HB
4637, leaving the measure to pass on a 10-6 margin.
The full House saw a
slightly less divisive passage of the bills, with HB
4640 seeing the slimmest margin of passage, 70 ayes to 40 nays. The main
bill, HB
4637 passed on a 71-39 vote, while HB
4638 and HB
4639 saw identical 73-37 margins of victory. The final bill, HB
4641 saw the largest spread with a final vote of 74 representatives in
support, while 36 opposed the legislation.