National News
State can’t do Uber background check study lawmakers wanted
December 21, 2015 posted by Steve Brownstein
State officials said they're unable to conduct the complete study on background checks that some lawmakers wanted as a condition of voting for ride-hailing in Nevada.
The Nevada Transportation Authority told members of the Legislative Commission on Monday that they don't have the authority — or the money — to force drivers for Uber and Lyft to participate in fingerprint background checks for testing purposes. Lawmakers wanted to compare whether fingerprinting and FBI background checks, which are required for taxi and limo drivers, are better at catching criminal history than the checks Uber and Lyft do now.
Authority officials provided lawmakers with a brief analysis of the two types of background checks, but said the Legislature would need to pass another bill to give them power to conduct an in-depth comparison using actual driver data.
Senate Democratic leader Aaron Ford said he was disappointed state officials didn't carry out the full study, which was due six months after the bills authorizing ride-hailing passed in May. He and other Democrats wanted it so they could decide whether their decision to trust Uber and Lyft's background check process was appropriate.
Ford said he's asking the authority to develop a more in-depth analysis on the background check options, and may take action in the 2017 legislative session to authorize the full study he wanted in the first place.
Background checks were a major sticking point when lawmakers considered ride-hailing bills this spring.
Taxi companies and Democrats argued potential drivers could use false identities to pass background checks if a biometric system, such as fingerprinting, wasn't used.
State officials and ride-hailing companies say the third-party checks through public records are faster, and say FBI checks sometimes flag arrests but don't tell the final outcome of a criminal investigation. The companies also say they use multiple documents and photo comparisons to guard against people using fake identities.
