AUSTIN -- As Austin City Council heads back to work Thursday for its first meeting of 2016, the top issue on the agenda will determine what is next for ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft.
City council members must revisit the issue after over 65,000 people signed a petition, requiring the council to either formally adopt the revised ordnance suggested by the committee behind the petition or put the ordinance up for a vote in the next election.
The petition was drafted in response to a city council vote last month that would phase in extended background checks for companies like Lyft and Uber. Those companies argue that current background checks are extensive enough and have threatened to leave Austin if they are forced to comply with the new rules.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler is expected to push a program he is calling "Thumbs Up Austin," which would incentivize drivers to volunteer for fingerprint-based criminal background checks. Drivers can get their fingerprints taken and have a criminal background check run at validation stations set up around the city.
If drivers take part in the program, they will receive a badge that makes them eligible for incentives such as being allowed access to areas where drivers are not currently allowed.
The council meeting started at 10 a.m.
