Uber Bill Gets A Lyft

Uber and Lyft drivers are one big step closer to taking home a larger share of each ride’s pay thanks to a favorable committee vote in Hartford.

That happened on Tuesday afternoon, when the state legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted nine to five in support of Senate Bill (S.B.) 969: An Act Concerning Basic Labor Standards for Transportation Network Company Drivers. 

Two dozen local Uber and Lyft drivers traveled to Hartford earlier this month to lobby in support of the bill, which would require Uber, Lyft, and other on-demand ride share services to pay their drivers at least 75 percent of the amount collected from passengers on any given completed ride. It would also restrict the companies’ own share to no more than 25 percent of the total amount of money collected by one of their drivers on a given day.

In written testimony submitted to the committee, Uber opposed the bill, arguing that it often pays drivers more per ride than what it receives from customers. An Uber spokesperson also warned that the passage of this bill could result in ride share drivers, who are not employees but independent contractors with Uber, having to pay thousands of dollars more per year in insurance payments currently covered by Uber.

Tuesday afternoon’s committee deliberations revolved around a debate between the Republican and Democratic members of the committee over whether the proposed bill would hurt customers, drivers, and the companies themselves through higher prices and fewer rides, or whether it would simply result in a fairer share of pay being distributed to the laborers of the ride share economy.

“My concern here is that this is going to result in less work for drivers,” said Watertown State Rep. Joe Poletta. ​“I really don’t believe in all honesty that this is going to help those it’s intended to help.” He said that customers will likely face higher fares, successful companies will face lower profits, and drivers will face fewer rides.

“I think it’s going to result in higher fares and less work for the drivers,” he said.

New Haven and Hamden State Rep. Robyn Porter, House chair of the committee, disagreed. From her perspective, this bill is all about fairness.

“I don’t think that people that provide a profit for companies should be treated in a way that doesn’t coincide or commiserate with the profits that the companies are receiving,” she said.

“There should be equity,” she added. That’s the goal of the bill. In response to Perotta’s concern that the bill would in fact hurt the drivers, she referenced the four Uber drivers who testified in person before the committee earlier this month.

“The drivers seem to think that this is something that would work and would answer some of the problems they’ve been having with the companies,” she said. And if Perotta is concerned about this bill hampering profits for Uber and Lyft, he should remember that this proposed bill arose from drivers’ concerns that their own ​“profits have been hampered down” by the companies.

Porter said that committee members planned to meet with representatives from Uber and Lyft on Tuesday afternoon to talk with them directly about concerns they have with the proposed legislation.

Now out of committee, the bill advances to the full state House and Senate for review and a final vote.

The 2019 Agenda

Bill #	Status	Summary	Sponsors
SB 431	Committee Denied	To reform the property tax system.	Martin Looney
SB 788	Committee Denied	To create more revenue options for municipalities with a large percentage of properties that are exempt from property tax.	Martin Looney, Juan Candelaria, Roland Lemar, Toni Walker, Robyn Porter, Al Paolillo, Michael DiMassa
SB 475	Committee Denied	To increase municipal revenue by raising the sales tax.	Martin Looney
SB 454	Committee Denied	To create a more efficient educational system by consolidating small school districts.	Martin Looney
SB 27	Committee Denied	To reduce prescription drug prices under the Medicaid program.	Martin Looney
SB 30	Committee Denied	To prohibit copayment accumulator programs.	Martin Looney
SB 34	Committee Denied	To prohibit the delivery, issuance for delivery or renewal of short-term health insurance policies in this state that do not provide coverage for essential health benefits.	Martin Looney
SB 48	Sent to the Floor	To require manufacturers of brand name prescription drugs to provide samples of such drugs to manufacturers of generic prescription drugs.	Martin Looney
SB 32	Committee Denied	To establish a public health insurance option.	Martin Looney
SB 1	Passed	To create a paid family and medical leave program.	Martin Looney, Gary Winfield
HB 5004	Gov. Signed	To provide more economic security to Connecticut families by increasing the minimum fair wage.	Robyn Porter, Juan Candelaria, Josh Elliott, Alphonse Paolillo, Michael D’Agostino, Michael DiMassa, Patricia Dillon, Roland Lemar, Toni Walker
SB 64	Sent to the Floor	To prohibit an employer from coercing employees into attending or participating in meetings sponsored by the employer concerning the employer’s views on political or religious matters	Martin Looney
SB 496	Attached to Different Bill	To provide for the legalization, taxation and regulation of the retail sale, personal growth and recreational use of cannabis by individuals twenty-one years of age or older.	Martin Looney, Gary Winfield
SB 25	Sent to the Floor	To restore the electoral privileges of convicted felons who are on parole.	Martin Looney
HB 6073	Committee Denied	To allow a housing authority to expand its area of operation to include high and very high opportunity census tracts within a thirty-mile radius.	Roland Lemar
HB 5273	Committee Denied	To establish as of right multifamily housing zones within one-half mile of all fixed route transit stops.	Roland Lemar
HB 5722	Committee Denied	To establish a public health insurance option.	Roland Lemar, Pat Dillon, Josh Elliott
HB 5595	Attached to Different Bill	To authorize and regulate the sale and adult use of marijuana in this state.	Juan Candelaria, Roland Lemar, Toni Walker, Robyn Porter, Pat Dillon, Josh Elliott
HB 6705	Committee Denied	To prohibit the Department of Correction from using solitary confinement in its facilities.	Gary Winfield, Juan Candelaria, Roland Lemar, Toni Walker, Robyn Porter, Josh Elliott
HB 6715	Committee Denied	To eliminate cash bail.	Robyn Porter, Josh Elliott
HB 7203	Committee Denied	To promote the safety of pedestrians by requiring motorists to grant the right-of-way to pedestrians who affirmatively indicate their intention to cross the road in a crosswalk.	Cristin McCarthy Vahey
HB 6590	Sent to the Floor	To allow local traffic authorities to establish lower speed limits on streets under their jurisdiction by holding a public hearing regarding such speed limits and providing notification of such speed limits to the Office of the State Traffic Administration.	Julio Concepcion
HB 7141	Passed	To define and regulate the use of electric foot scooters.	Roland Lemar
HB 7205	Sent to the Floor	To require a percentage of the cars, light duty trucks and buses purchased or leased by the state be zero-emission vehicles or zero-emission buses, establish a Connecticut Hydrogen and Electric Automobile Purchase Rebate Program and fund such program.	Roland Lemar
SB 969	Committee Denied	To provide basic labor standards for transportation network company drivers.	Matt Lesser, Peter Tercyak