PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon lawmakers are considering a rideshare driver rights bill, in an effort to improve working conditions for Uber and Lyft drivers across the state.

On Thursday, the Senate Labor and Business Committee held an informational hearing on Senate Bill 1166, which received support from some rideshare drivers and Drivers Union Oregon — a union representing over 10,000 rideshare drivers in the state — while representatives from Uber and Lyft raised concerns about the legislation.

If the bill passes, the protections for Oregon rideshare drivers will take effect in the summer of 2025.

“Driving for Uber and Lyft is becoming more precarious,” said Salem-area rideshare driver Seth Aniagyei in a Drivers Union Oregon press release. “The majority of trips are done by full-time drivers like me whose only income comes from these apps, and the big out-of-state corporations have all the control. They manage us through algorithms, fire us via email, lower our pay and raise fees with no accountability. There has to be some limit to that, and that’s what we’re fighting for.”

Currently, there is not a statewide rideshare policy, rather local jurisdictions, such as the City of Portland, set their own regulations.

Among the provisions in the bill, SB 1166 would set per-mile and per-minute minimum compensation for drivers, create just cause protections for unwarranted driver terminations, would require rideshare companies to create an appeals process for terminations, extend sick leave, and establish a resource center for rideshare workers to help them access benefits.

“This cause has been brought to my attention by drivers who are really struggling in terms of getting their decent wages and also need some protection,” bill co-sponsor Senator Kayse Jama (D-East Portland, Damascus, Boring) testified during the hearing, noting even though rideshare plays an important role in transportation infrastructure, rideshare drivers are getting “left behind.”

Testifying in favor of the bill, Stephanie King shared her experience working as a full-time rideshare driver in the Portland area since 2018, saying even though rideshare driving has been viewed as “gig work,” or a “side hustle,” she says, “the bonus structures that were in place always demanded full-time participation. Many were unobtainable even working back-to-back 12-hour shifts.”

“In Portland, we’re paid 40-60% less than in other Oregon markets like Salem, Eugene, Bend and Medford,” King said. “Over the years, Lyft and Uber have continually cut wages for doing the same work. Long story short, over the last year and a half or so, that’s amounted to $1,600 a month pay cut for me,” King claimed.

“When Lyft cut the $100 (electric vehicle) bonus, it was the tipping point for me personally and now I’m literally selling my body, having to sell blood plasma in order to not quite make ends meet,” King said. “Our current pay is 70 cents a mile and 24 cents a minute. Seventy cents a mile is the current IRS deduction, and we’re only paid when we’re in an active ride,” King continued.

“Driver pay does not correlate to the surge passengers pay in any way,” King said, pointing to one trip where she drove someone from Clackamas to Portland International Airport. While the rider paid $116 for the trip, King said she was paid $18.

Nathaniel Hudson-Hartman, another Oregon rideshare driver testifying in favor of the bill, highlighted the need for an appeals process when drivers are terminated from the app.

“No worker should ever have to choose between their health and their income. But I, like many of us, had to take unpaid time off from work when I was sick for weeks from COVID and when my sister and father were both in poor health near the end of their lives. And I can also speak to what it’s like to wake up and turn on your app only to find out you’ve been terminated, most times without a clear explanation why or the right to representation. It happened to me right after my father passed away and I was devastated to know that all it took was canceling a trip out of grief,” Hudson-Hartman said.

While some rideshare drivers shared frustrations with current Uber and Lyft policies, representatives for the companies raised concerns with the bill.

Zahid Arab, a public policy and communications representative for Uber explained, “When it comes to SB 1166, we’re concerned. It seeks to set minimum per-mile and per-minute rates. It also prevents restricting dangerous drivers from the platform and creates a driver resource center with unprecedented regulatory powers. Make no mistake, the compensation rates in this proposal are among the highest in the country and when you add in cost of living, and insurance factored into that, these rates far outpace the rideshare models.”

Arab continued, “We know this proposal will reduce demand, which will directly impact driver earning opportunities at the same time — effectively pricing out countless low-income and senior Oregonians who rely on rideshare for essential services.”

Representatives for Uber and Lyft said Rep. Susan McLain (D-Forest Grove, Cornelius, Hillsboro) agreed to hold a workgroup with the rideshare companies over the summer to find a compromise between safeguarding driver earnings while maintaining the rideshare company’s driving models.

KOIN 6 News reached out to Rep. McLain’s office for comment but has not heard back.

Representing Lyft, Marissa Cade said the company is interested in participating in the workgroup rather than seeing the bill pass the Oregon legislature.

“Lyft is in support of participating actively in a conversation with drivers, and Uber and the community in the potential workgroup,” Cade said. “I think those conversations have been happening. There’s not been an official amendment put forward or a bill for that workgroup put forward, but we are working on details put together in a more substantial way for the legislature this session.”

Kade continued, “Also just wanted to reflect…about the need to respond with an Oregon solution to the needs of rivers here in Oregon. Lyft completely agrees and that’s another reason to move into a workgroup scenario rather than moving forward with this bill. There’s some market analysis and things that need to be done in order to weigh the impacts of the changes that are being recommended and how to best help drivers accomplish their end goals here as opposed to what we’ve seen in the other states that have had unintended consequences on things like driver remuneration.”

Following the hearing, SB 1166 is heading to the Senate Rules Committee.