A day after Florida’s capital city punted on regulated app-based ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft — partly in order to see where the Legislature lands on the issue before acting — a decidedly pro-ridesharing bill sponsored by state Rep. Matt Gaetz is through the committee process and ready for a vote before the full House of Representatives.
State Sen. Jeff Brandes, the sponsor of a roughly equivalent Senate companion and ridesharing’s most prominent supporter, told Florida Politics he’s happy with the way the legislation is progressing through the process.
“This week marked the five-millionth Uber ride in Florida,” said Brandes Thursday evening. “It’s clear that the people want innovative transportation options like Uber and Lyft. These services improve the safety of our roadways and give new opportunities to entrepreneurs. I applaud Matt Gaetz for championing this thoughtful free market bill.”
The bill, which House Speaker Steve Crisafulli gave his blessing to in a pre-Session interview with Florida Politics, could well represent not only a resolution to a years-long food fight in the state capital, but also usher in a new era of liberalized rules for the emerging “sharing economy” in Florida.
Sources familiar with the ridesharing negotiations between the chambers say they’re hopeful of a House-flavored approach passing the Legislature and note that statehouse watchers should never sleep on any bill favored by the speaker when it comes to action in the last few weeks of session.
Gaetz’s HB 817 passed the House Economic Affairs Committee 13-4, in a vote that split the panel’s Democrats. Democratic state Reps. Evan Jenne and Randolph Bracy joined 11 Republicans in supporting the measure, while state Reps. Joe Geller, Ed Narain, Bobby Powell and Alan Williams cast dissenting “No” votes.
