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Board amends and continues resolution urging CPUC to require fingerprint background checks for TNC drivers
Summary
Supervisor Aaron Peskin’s resolution calling on the California Public Utilities Commission to require fingerprint‑based background checks for transportation‑network‑company drivers was amended to incorporate ‘Fair Chance’ hiring protections and continued for one week for additional drafting and stakeholder review.
The Board considered a resolution urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to adopt regulations requiring fingerprint (live‑scan) criminal background checks for drivers employed by transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft.
Supervisor Aaron Peskin, sponsor of the resolution, presented amendments offered at the dais that removed a categorical reference to "live scan" and added explicit reference to San Francisco’s 2014 Fair Chance ordinance (often called "Ban the Box") so that any driver‑screening regime would be consistent with local rules limiting blanket use of conviction history in hiring decisions.
After adopting the technical amendments without objection, the Board continued the item one week to July 19 so staff and stakeholders — including taxi‑worker advocates, labor and reentry advocates — could review the amended language and reconcile public‑safety and reentry concerns.
Why it matters: TNCs screen prospective drivers using third‑party background checks that, by state practice at that time, did not always include fingerprint‑based checks against national criminal‑history databases. Advocates for fingerprint checks argue the method is necessary to verify identity and catch aliases or records that name‑based checks miss. Reentry advocates and some supervisors warned against unduly barring people with old convictions from work; the amendment incorporated local Fair‑Chance protections.
Outcome: The Board approved amendments and continued the item to July 19 for further consideration and stakeholder negotiation.
