State of Colorado

Bill HD1068 - An Act Concerning the Deregulation of Certain Passenger Transportation

For a number of years, a Bill to deregulate certain passenger transportation has made an annual appearance in the Colorado State Legislature. On 3 Feb 2000, it once again made an appearance was once again defeated. The Denver Post reported the following:

Denver Post
(Denver, CO, USA)
4 Feb 2000

TAXI DEREGULATION FAILS AGAIN

The perennial attempt to deregulate the taxi business met its perennial fate Thursday in the House Transportation Committee. Rep. Penn Pfiffner's HB 1068, after more than three hours of testimony and several major amendments, lost on a 5-6 vote and then was "postponed indefinitely," which means beyond resuscitation, on a vote of 7-4.

Pfiffner, a Lakewood Republican and champion of deregulation, urged the committee to "end the barrier" that keeps entrepreneurs from competing with state-regulated taxi companies.

He said it would drive rates down, and he added background checks to the bill to ensure that drivers - who still would be licensed - have not been convicted of assault or sex crimes. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission would be responsible for vehicle safety, too.

But, in a room packed with perhaps 150 cab drivers, opposition witnesses talked about cities where deregulation actually has driven up rates.

Rep. Paul Zimmerman, D-Thornton, a union truck driver, argued that the current system is more effective at weeding out drivers who might be dangerous.

Republican Reps. Dorothy Gotlieb of Denver, Andy McElhany of Colorado Springs and, for the final vote, Mark Larson of Cortez joined Zimmerman and the committee's three other Democrats in voting to leave deregulation standing at the curb for yet another year.

Bill HB1068

The full text of Bill HB1068 is available on TAXI-L as a convenience only. At this location, it has no official status. For any official use, a current copy should be acquired from the State of Colorado. The document is in .pdf format requiring Adobe Acrobat to view and read it.

On 4 February 2000, at the following web site address, an informational copy was found on the State of Colorado web site

www.leg.state.co.us/inetcbill.nsf/billcontainers/5597D006B36B70BC8725684D004CDD74/$FILE/1068_01.pdf

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