Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER.US) is spending money on advertising and pressuring New York state to reform taxi insurance.

In order to urge lawmakers to address the chain of problems caused by the bankruptcy of New York's largest taxi insurance company, Uber Technologies, Inc. recently launched a new round of advertising campaigns in New York, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to the company's statement, the ride-sharing giant officially launched this campaign on Tuesday (the same day the New York state legislature reconvened for a budget meeting in Albany), but did not disclose the specific amount spent on advertising. This action adds to the lobbying funds that Uber Technologies, Inc. has already allocated for insurance reform this year - the company has set aside millions of dollars for advertising and supporting political candidates in New York and across the United States. Since the end of last year, Uber Technologies, Inc. executives have warned multiple times that demand in some American markets has weakened due to the company passing on the continuously rising insurance costs to customers. In New York, where Uber Technologies, Inc. operates, the issue of rising fares is particularly severe. The region's largest taxi insurance company, American Transit Insurance Co., has declared bankruptcy. Although Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a plan to stabilize the insurance market in January, Uber Technologies, Inc. lobbyist Josh Gold immediately pointed out that the plan did not address the fundamental issues in the legal system that promote fraud and drive up premiums - these accusations were detailed in a fraud lawsuit filed by Uber Technologies, Inc. later that month. Earlier this month, Gold emphasized in a letter to three key decision-makers in New York State (Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie) that reforms must be immediately initiated to curb what they call "insurance policy abuse." Uber Technologies, Inc. believes that this abuse leads to both driver premiums and passenger fares increasing. Gold wrote in the April 5th letter: "The insurance crisis in the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) is just a symptom of a larger systemic ailment. True leadership is needed at this moment."