Lawrence is now in the Uber debate.

Lawrence City Hall officials have begun researching whether the city ought to create local regulations that would require Uber drivers to meet background checks and maintain certain levels of insurance. The $40 billion company has vigorously fought those requirements in other communities.

“I think it will be a pretty considerable policy discussion,” said Brandon McGuire, the assistant to the city manager who is responsible for overseeing the city’s taxi cab licensing ordinance.

That is, unless the Kansas Legislature beats city officials to the punch. State lawmakers already have approved legislation that would require background checks by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and minimum levels of insurance coverage for Uber drivers. But Gov. Sam Brownback has vetoed that legislation. Lawmakers will attempt to override the veto next week. If the veto is overridden and the bill becomes law, Lawrence may not need to approve any new regulations for Uber.

McGuire said Lawrence’s current taxi cab licensing ordinance does not cover “ride sharing services” such as Uber. While Uber uses higher-tech methods to dispatch drivers and collect payments, the service is similar to a taxi cab company in one important way: People enter into someone else’s vehicle with the expectation that the driver will safely deliver them to their destination. McGuire said that creates the question of whether Uber and other ride-sharing services should meet the same type of requirements as taxi cab companies.

The issue has been heavily debated in Kansas City, Mo., where Uber had threatened to leave the market if background check and insurance regulations were enacted. Uber and Kansas City reached an agreement Thursday, according to the Kansas City Star, in which the city agreed to reduce proposed fees for individual drivers and Uber agreed to provide driver background check information.

Lawrence already was in the process of rewriting its aged taxi cab code. Last month city commissioners expressed support for a new code that increases the amount of insurance coverage required for taxi cab companies. But commissioners stopped short of approving the new code, in part because they wanted city staff members to include more specific language on what type of background checks are required for taxi cab drivers.

Since last month’s review of the taxi cab ordinance, three new commissioners have joined the City Commission. The new commission hasn’t yet weighed in on the proposed changes. Newly elected Commissioner Matthew Herbert said he wants to review the proposed changes in more detail.

“I don’t think we want to make them super intrusive,” Herbert said. “We don’t want to run off a business. But I do think there needs to be a base level of regulation for public safety.”

Herbert said background checks of drivers certainly are an option. He said it would be difficult for the city to require background checks for traditional taxi cab drivers but not for Uber drivers.

“I do think they are pretty similar,” Herbert said.

Bryan Sorenson, owner of Ground Transportation Services, said he’s fine with competing against Uber, as long as it is on a level playing field. Sorenson said the insurance issue is an important one, and so too is a requirement that cab companies be required to operate a certain number of hours per week.

He said if the city allows cab companies or ride-sharing companies to simply operate during the busy late-night bar scene, that will make it difficult for cab companies to profitably operate throughout the week. Sorenson said the large volume late-night service often subsidizes the more sporadic weekday service offered by taxi cab companies. But he said the weekday service is an important community service to offer.

“I don’t like competing against people who have no intention of operating during the week when people need taken to a doctor’s appointment or to a job interview,” Sorenson said. “That irks me.”

McGuire said he expects city commissioners will consider approving the proposed taxi cab ordinance in the next couple of weeks.

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