Guinn vetoes cabdrivers bill

Wednesday, June 15, 2005 | 9:32 a.m.

As expected, Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed Assembly Bill 505 on Tuesday, a bill that would have outlawed cabdrivers statewide from accepting kickbacks for delivering customers to topless clubs and other businesses.

"Taxicab drivers contribute greatly to the economy of this state," Guinn said in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson.

"I cannot support Section 133 of AB 505 because it singles out and hurts the financial well-being of taxicab drivers."

The section was slipped into the bill a day before the Legislature was scheduled to adjourn. There was no opportunity for a public hearing, Guinn said. The governor promised to veto the bill last week after cabdrivers threatened a strike.

Last week, nine of Clark County's 15 licensed adult nightclubs were issued written warnings to cease the practice of giving drivers kickbacks or potentially be called to answer why their liquor licenses should not be pulled under an existing 1985 ordinance.

The county and state Taxicab Authority officials on Monday, however, agreed to meet and work on the issue. Taxicab Authority spokesman Rob Stewart said that the truce and upcoming meetings scheduled in coming days could offset a "volatile situation" as drivers continued their protests of the bill and threatened to strike.

More than 300 cabbies have signed a petition asking for a full investigation of the legislation that the governor vetoed. The petition is still being circulating, said Craig Harris, a 25-year cabdriver and managing editor of Trip Sheet, a magazine that covers taxicab industry issues.

Another group, Citizens for Enforcement, made up of unnamed local businesses, is seeking to ensure that all transportation services are regulated.

"We very much want limousine and bus drivers to be under the same restrictions, but because they are not licensed by any authority, there was no way to include penalties or fines against them," Jennifer Knight, a spokeswoman for Citizens for Enforcement, said in a statement.