Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush is applauding a vote in the Florida state legislature to prevent local governments from banning ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft.
“Proud of the FL House of Representatives for giving more freedom to innovative companies like @Uber to create jobs in the Sunshine State,” tweeted Bush, who is a former governor of Florida.
The Florida measure, which was approved by the state’s House of Representatives, would overrule existing local bans on ride-hailing services that have become popular in metropolitan areas, the Tampa Bay Times reports.
{mosads}The measure would establish state insurance minimums for ride-hailing services in exchange for prohibiting local governments from enacting more stringent regulations, according to the report.
Backers of the measure cast the vote as a defense of the so-called gig economy.
“The right to use innovative companies should not depend on how draconian the rules are in local government,” the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R), said, according to the paper.
Rail-hailing services have emerged as a contentious issue among presidential candidates. Republicans have touted the companies as economic success stories, while Democrats have raised questions about the labor rights of drivers, who are typically categorized as independent contractors instead of full-time employees.
Lyft reached a settlement on Wednesday in a class-action lawsuit that was filed by drivers who argued they were inappropriately classified by the company as independent contractors rather than employees.
As part of a proposed settlement in the class-action case, which still needs to be approved by the court, Lyft agreed to pay $12.25 million to certain drivers.
A similar lawsuit has been filed against Uber.
—David McCabe contributed to this report.