HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – Hillsborough County’s legislative delegation took the first step Firday to eliminate the Public Transportation Commission.
The PTC was recently involved in a controversial battle to regulate ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.
PTC Executive Director Kyle Cockream is currently under investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
On Friday State Representative J.W. Grant, whose district includes parts of both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, proposed a bill that would eliminate the PTC. “Today what we are discussing in this amendment is a death sentence in the form of a local bill,” Grant said.
The bill has the support of State Senator Tom Lee, who represents Hillsborough County, and others. “We’re not responsible for some of shenanigans that have gone on inside that Public Transportation Commission. We’re not the reason it no longer has the credibility to regulate this industry, ” Lee said.
Incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran said he’s favored doing away with the PTC since he was a freshman legislator. “It’s absolutely government gone wrong on every single level. It should have never existed, ever existed and it’s time has come,” Corcoran said.
The full Legislature will have to approve the bill.
Hillsborough County is the only county in the state with a public transportation commission. The commission currently regulates taxis, ambulance services and tow truck companies. County Commissioner Stacy White said the county is prepared to take over those duties if the PTC Is eliminated.
