Bill Would Require Checks On Super Bowl Taxi Drivers

TAMPA - Under a bill considered Friday by local state legislators, taxi drivers who ferry passengers around Tampa for the 2009 Super Bowl may face federal background checks but will be free of out-of-state competition.

During the state legislative session next year, lawmakers from Hillsborough County plan to introduce a bill that would require taxi and limo drivers to pass federal background checks.

They refused, though, to endorse provisions originally in the bill that would have allowed out-of-state taxi and limo drivers to work in Hillsborough County during the marquee event.

Owners of cab and limo companies had complained that drivers from other states could flood Tampa and take away their business.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Rich Glorioso, R-Plant City, said a provision for allowing nonlocal drivers to get temporary permits would ensure there was enough transportation for out-of-towners attending the 2009 pro football championship, scheduled to be played at Raymond James Stadium.

There was little support for it, though, with state Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, vehemently opposing the temporary permits. Storms drew on her experience as a member of the Hillsborough Public Transportation Commission, of which she was a member while a county commissioner. The board oversees licensing taxis, ambulances, limos, tow trucks and other for-hire vehicles.

She said the agency already regulates too much, and the changes proposed by Glorioso's bill would harm drivers more. "I'm not going to regulate a poor guy out of business."

Glorioso agreed to remove the contentious parts of the bill, which requires drivers applying for permits to clear federal background checks. The cost for the more rigorous screens will increase from $35 to $80; the fee is paid by applicants.

Glorioso said the bill would protect Super Bowl revelers and the hundreds of thousands who ride in taxis or limos in Hillsborough each year. The aim is to "make sure they're not in there with an undesirable - or a terrorist," he said.

The bill will require lawmakers' approval when they reconvene for their regular legislative session in March.