Nevada Senate gives green light to ridesharing
With just three weeks to go in Nevada’s legislative calendar, a bill that will give the green light to hitherto illegal ridesharing activity has cleared an important hurdle in the state capitol.
Assembly Bill 175 passed the Senate on an 18-1 vote and now moves back to the Assembly, where the bill’s amendments will require another floor vote for approval before the bill can be sent to Gov. Brian Sandoval. The large bipartisan majority that supported A.B. 175 in the Senate bodes well for the bill as it moves back to the Assembly, because it requires a two-thirds vote, not a bare majority, to pass.
The specifics of A.B. 175 are imperfect, particularly the imposition of a 3 percent tax on rides and a nebulous background check provision. But the overriding concern for legislators, and those in favor of market competition, is that transportation network companies begin to operate legally within the state.
Anybody who has ever stood in a seemingly endless queue for overpriced two-mile taxis rides to the Strip from McCarran Airport is just a little closer to avoiding that nightmare in the future.
