Nevada limousine allocation bill fails

Tuesday, June 19, 2001 | 10:41 a.m.

State limousine regulators say it will be business as usual for licensing new entrants to the industry in the wake of a failed bill at the Nevada Legislature that would have limited the number of limousine licenses that could be issued.

Transportation Services Authority Chairman Paul Christensen said the TSA will continue to consider licensing requests of new companies and independent operators.

Meanwhile, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice, which represented independent limousine drivers in a court case that recently was resolved, claimed victory, both in court and in the Legislature for limo drivers.

The failed legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bill O'Donnell, R-Las Vegas, would have established an allocation system for limousines, similar to the system in place for Clark County's taxi industry. Under that system, the state Taxicab Authority determines how many cabs are allowed on the streets of Southern Nevada, allowing occasional periodic increases when major conventions and special events are in town.

The Institute for Justice claimed victory after the special session of the Legislature convened without considering the bill.

"SB 576 is bad for entrepreneurs, bad for tourists and bad for Nevada," said Institute for Justice attorney and lobbyist Clark Neily when the legislation was under consideration last month. He said the allocation system would have enabled big companies to continue to control the market.

Christensen said the status quo would result in more licenses.

"The net result is that there probably will be more limousine licenses granted," Christensen said. "We will continue to have the right to not grant licenses on the basis of safety, insurance and financial fitness issues."

Christensen said the one area in which the TSA may change the way it conducts business is in how intervenors participate in the licensing process. That, he said, was the result of the court ruling issued May 16 by District Judge Ron Parraguirre. Christensen said the TSA recognized the problem and began changing policies even before the case was adjudicated.

"We recognized there was a valid complaint about the intervenors," Christensen said, noting that case intervenors -- usually competitors of the prospective licensee -- would force the applicant to spend more time and money producing financial documents or defending itself.

"There was a lot of misinformation that came out about the lawsuit," Christensen said. "We didn't lose, we won the lawsuit."

State officials believe they won the suit because the judge upheld state regulation of the industry.

Christensen said 35 new limousine licenses were granted between 1997 and 2000 while two were denied.