ALBANY - Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office and state lawmakers have discussed authorizing Uber and other ride-sharing services statewide as part of wide-ranging legislative negotiations, but it's unclear whether an agreement will materialize.
Cuomo and legislative leaders have spent recent weeks negotiating a potential return to the state Capitol before year's end, which would be necessary for lawmakers and state agency commissioners to receive a pay raise in 2017.
Talks in recent days have touched on ride-sharing companies like Uber, which have been seeking changes in state law that would allow them to operate across New York.
Assembly Insurance Committee chair Kevin Cahill, D-Kingston, acknowledged Monday that Cuomo's office has raised the issue. But the talks haven't progressed to the point of debating bill language that would enact the necessary changes, he said.
“I know that they’ve reached out, but they haven’t sent us any specifics," Cahill said. "We don’t pass ideas. We pass bills. There is no bill that’s been proposed to us."
Ride-sharing services allow users to use an app on their smartphone to summon a driver, who generally uses a personal vehicle to transport customers from place to place.
Uber and Lyft, the giants of the ride-sharing industry, currently operate in New York City under the city's rules for livery cabs, which require drivers to have a taxi license and commercial insurance policy while limiting the type of car they can drive.
The companies have been pushing for statewide regulations that would allow them to expand to the rest of the state and allow drivers to easily cross city, town and county lines.
They also need a change in state law that would allow them to hold a group insurance policy for its drivers' personal vehicles while being used for ride sharing.
The state Senate and Assembly, however, ended its annual legislative session in June without coming to an agreement, with the two sides unable to reach consensus on the minimum amount of insurance coverage Uber and Lyft should be required to carry.
On Thursday, Cuomo told reporters he supports expanding ride-sharing throughout the state.
“I think it would be good for upstate New York,” Cuomo said.
It remained unclear Monday whether lawmakers will return to the Capitol before January, when they are scheduled to begin their six-month 2017 session.
Cuomo has been urging them to return before then to take up a variety of issues, including the release of homeless funding. Some lawmakers, meanwhile, are eager to approve a salary increase for themselves and state agency commissioners, whose salaries have been held flat since 1999.
Uber's efforts to expand have been opposed by upstate taxi companies, who have formed a coalition known as the Upstate Transportation Association to push back against the legislative effort.
On Monday, John Tomassi, the association's president, said it would be "reckless" for state lawmakers to approve an Uber expansion without requiring drivers to be subjected to fingerprint background checks.
“It’s even more unconscionable considering that Uber has no problem with fingerprinting in New York City," Tomassi said in a statement. "Uber clearly cares more about making a buck than the safety of upstate passengers.”
Buoyed by Cuomo's support, Uber launched a new television advertisement Monday, urging viewers to "join Governor Cuomo in bringing Uber to New York."
"Tell your legislator: All you want for Christmas is Uber," the ad's narrator says.