Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Limousines back on legislative agenda

A proposal to establish an allocation system for limousines operating in Clark County will be reconsidered by the state Legislative Commission next week.

Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, said he placed the matter on the agenda of Wednesday's meeting at the request of Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who wasn't present for a May 24 meeting at which the commission voted 7-5 to reject a proposal directing the Transportation Services Authority to implement an allocation system.

An allocation system is in place for taxis operating in Clark County, but the plan is controversial within the limousine industry because an operator would have restrictions on the number of vehicles that it could put in service. Some operators welcome the regulation, believing they would get a friendlier competitive environment out of the deal. Others believe they shouldn't be restricted in the number of vehicles they run.

Lawmakers, reacting to complaints ranging from price gouging and illegal payoffs to the use of unsafe vehicles by unscrupulous drivers, imposed a freeze on the number of vehicles allowed to existing limousine companies and a limit of two vehicles for new firms entering the market while they wrestled with various limousine issues. The freeze expired in July.

A legislative subcommittee headed by Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, solicited testimony from the industry and a study from Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Lawmakers were told of price gouging of tourists using limousines, fights between drivers of limousines and taxis and kickbacks to hotel doormen to direct customers to limos.

Schwer's report characterized the industry as being in disarray and in need of greater regulatory scrutiny.

Chowning's committee recommended an allocation system similar to the one in place for Clark County taxis, administered by the Nevada Taxicab Authority.

But the Legislative Commission -- a 12-member body of senators and Assembly representatives that meets every few months between legislative sessions to guide pending legislation -- voted against the committee's recommendation.

Most of the opposition came from lawmakers who said there was no correlation between the behavior of limo drivers and the need to restrict the number of vehicles an operator should be allowed.

Chowning, whose father was a taxi driver in Las Vegas in the 1950s, said abuses within the industry have worsened and she welcomes a re-vote on the allocation matter.

"I don't think some members of the commission had the years of background they needed on the issues," she said Wednesday.

Townsend said Wednesday he was asked by Perkins to reconsider the limousine allocation question. He said he was told that the reason the reconsideration was being requested was that some lawmakers weren't present for the key vote.

Sandra Avants, chairwoman of the Transportation Services Authority, which regulates the limousine industry in the state, said she learned Wednesday that the allocation issue would be on the Legislative Commission's agenda next week and that she didn't know what transpired to bring the issue back to the panel.

But she knew the issue was going to be revisited because the state Board of Examiners, headed by Gov. Kenny Guinn, on Tuesday recommended approval of $50,000 from the emergency fund to the TSA to develop the allocation system. Those funds would, in part, pay for a consulting contract for a transportation expert to recommend implementation of the system.

Various limousines are restricted in different ways. For example, a limo that operates across state lines is regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation while those operating within the state are overseen by the TSA.

But limousines belonging to businesses that aren't primarily transportation operations -- those belonging to resorts or wedding chapels, for example -- are treated under different regulations if they operate between the business and another location.

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