Thank you for your continued attention and readiness to help us in our mission of addressing Michigan’s private, for-hire transportation vehicle insurance challenges. We are making progress! The House Insurance Committee Chair, Daire Rendon (pronounced: Dare Ren-don), is working directly with Speaker Jason Wentworth’s office to obtain a draft bill that would eliminate the section of Michigan law that places liability on the for-hire vehicle insurance for all passengers. Although the draft bill is not yet fully prepared, we anticipate that it will be a great starting point to address the insurance issues that have plagued for-hire transportation companies for years.

With regard to timing/process, the bill draft may not be prepared for a few weeks yet, and official bill introduction comes after that. It is likely that Chair Rendon will hold group meetings to discuss and debate the draft once it is out, in order to ensure it is ready for a committee hearing which is estimated to be this coming fall.

We know business are barely hanging on and many of your insurance renewals are approaching. Chair Rendon has been urging the insurance companies to offer special rider coverage that could help cover companies at a lower cost for a short term, while the Legislature works to update Michigan law. We also encourage all of you to have these conversations with your insurance providers as well. Please let them know that solutions are being debated in Lansing and that relief is in reach.

There are ways to help! Support of our new coalition, the Passenger Transportation Coalition [PTC], is vital to this issue’s success; our coalition is committed to assisting this issue get across the finish line. Please contact Sean Duval or Chad Cushman at 734-531-7882 or michiganptc@gmail.com to learn more about ways to get involved.

We will continue to keep you updated and we hope you will join us in this effort to keep business open!