A screenshot of the Uber app in Kansas, as of 3:09 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, 2015.

Topeka ? Kansas lawmakers said this week they are close to reaching a compromise on regulations that could pave the way for Uber to resume business in Kansas.

“We’re continuing to work on finding compromise language,” said Sen. Jeff Longbine, R-Emporia, who chairs the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.

Uber had only been operating in Kansas a short time when it announced May 5 that it was suspending its web-based ride sharing service in the state. That came after lawmakers passed a bill, overriding Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto, imposing new regulations on “transportation network companies” like Uber.

Those included requirements that drivers for such companies undergo criminal background checks by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation before they could carry passengers, and that the company’s own insurance provide full coverage in case of accidents if the driver’s own policy did not.

In emails to its customers, Uber called those requirements a “poison pill” and said they were added to the bill to appease “special interests.”

Dennis Boog Highberger

A screenshot of Lawrence from popular ride-hailing application Uber.

A screenshot of the Uber app in Kansas, as of 3:09 p.m. Tuesday, May 5, 2015.

“Uber is misleading people about the situation,” said Rep. Boog Highberger, D-Lawrence. He noted that the new law isn’t scheduled to take effect until July 1, but Uber announced it was pulling out immediately.

A spokesman for the company did not respond to the Journal-World’s request for comment.

But Longbine said talks with Uber have continued since then, and new legislation could be introduced this week that would be acceptable to Uber as well as the banking and insurance industries.

Longbine said banks and auto loan companies were concerned about Uber because they have liens on vehicles that may not be fully insured by drivers’ personal policies when they use their vehicles for commercial purposes.

“When someone with a lien on a vehicle is acting as a livery person, a transportation network company, there is a gap in coverage and we need to provide the means to fill that gap,” Longbine said.

Damon Baluska, a Kansas University graduate student, said he was impressed with Uber’s service during the short time it operated in Lawrence.

“I did use it once while it was up and running and it was way better than the taxi services here in Lawrence,” Baluska said in an email Wednesday. “I was able to get a ride from downtown about 6-8 minutes after requesting it. My driver was super friendly and took me home for a little over $6, when typically a taxi for the same distance runs about $18.”

“The taxis here in town typically quote you 45 minutes to get picked up around closing bar time,” he added.

Joshua Talley of Lawrence said he worked as an Uber driver for about three days before it suspended operations in Kansas.

Talley, an engineer, said he took the job after being laid off from a company in Johnson County.

“I used to joke to myself that if I ever lose my job, I could always go drive for Uber,” he said. “And then one day, the company laid off a whole bunch of people.”

Talley said he liked the concept of Uber, which involves smart phone apps that allow people to request rides and drivers to log in when they are available to pick people up.

“I really liked the concept of it,” he said. “And having had some pretty poor experiences hailing cabs … when I learned I could use my own car to drive with them, I signed up.”

But Talley said he has since landed another permanent job and probably will not go back to Uber, even if the company resumes operations.

Lawrence-area legislators reported that they have heard very little from their constituents regarding Uber. Most said they had received only one or two phone calls or emails from Lawrence residents on the issue, and most of those were from people who only said they didn’t understand what had happened.

Meanwhile, Lawrence city officials said they were barely aware that Uber had started operating in Lawrence before the company pulled out.

“I did send an email to city staff saying this was probably something we should look at if they come,” said Mayor Jeremy Farmer. “It’s something we’re definitely going to have to work at if that comes back.”

Farmer noted that the city commission is currently working on updating its taxicab ordinance. And even though Uber is technically not considered a cab service, he said the city may consider amending the local law in such a way that it would cover companies like Uber.