Testimony from Jesse Kelley on SB 6500 to Members of the Senate Committee on Transportation
January 19, 2018
Testimony from Jesse Kelley, State Affairs Manager in Criminal Justice, R Street Institute To Members of the Senate Committee on Transportation:
My name is Jesse Kelley, and I am the State Affairs Manager for Criminal Justice for the R Street Institute. The R Street Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization focused on promoting policies that enhance free markets and limited, effective government.
I am writing to express my concerns regarding Section 5 of SB 6500. This section states that, before being hired at a network transportation company, an individual must “be fingerprinted for Washington state patrol and federal bureau of investigation criminal background checks by the department, or by a local law enforcement agency,” and continues to outline specific prior offenses that would limit employment.
First, imposing fingerprinting requirements on transportation companies like Uber and Lyft would make Washington communities less safe, not more. A 2016 study from Western Carolina University found that, after Uber entered a city, there was a corresponding decrease in assaults as well as DUIs and fatal accidents. A similar study of California cities found a corresponding drop in vehicular homicides. Yet Uber and Lyft have vacated cities, such as Austin, Texas in 2016, that impose fingerprint checks. Their decision to flee Austin left a city of almost 1 million people with only 900 cabs. Drunk-driving incidents spiked. Frustrated riders turned to Facebook groups, where they negotiated fees for rides from strangers who underwent no background checks at all. The societal harm imposed when these ride-sharing services left forced the Texas Governor, Gregg Abbott, to sign a bill eliminating the requirement only a year later.
Second, ride-sharing services are already performing background checks during the hiring process. Lyft reviews driving histories of its potential hires and explores each drivers’ criminal background. The company’s list of driver requirements unequivocally states that an individual is “ineligible to drive on the Lyft platform if, among other things, the background check results include: violent crime, felony, drug-related offense, sexual offense or certain theft or property damage offense cases.” Likewise, Uber also reviews its applicants’ criminal histories.
Adding further costly requirements for companies already engaged in the type of activity SB 6500 mandates is simply unnecessary.
Third, fingerprint requirements will pose discriminatory hurdles for racial minorities. The federal background check system is notoriously unreliable, as a 2013 National Employment Law Project (NELP) study revealed: “[Fifty] percent of the FBI’s records fail to include information on the final disposition of the case.” The report goes on to say that minorities “are especially disadvantaged by the faulty records because people of color are consistently arrested at rates greater than their representation in the general population, and large numbers of those arrests never lead to conviction.” Requiring potential ride-share hires to undergo fingerprinting will screen out more minorities than whites, thereby stretching Washington state’s existing racial employment gap.
We respectfully ask that you consider revising SB 6500 by removing the harmful requirements listed in Section 5 of the bill. Requiring further background checks by transportation network companies who already screen prospective drivers will only compromise rider safety and increase racial disparity.
Sincerely,
Jesse Kelley, Esq.
State Affairs Manager, Criminal Justice R Street Institute
