Drivers for ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft will have to verify they have a state business license under a bill approved Friday by the Senate Committee on Commerce, Labor and Energy…New drivers would be given six months to obtain a state business license and provide annual verification.

City Council members noted during a recent ordinance committee meeting that Hobart is one of just a few cities or towns in Northwest Indiana that doesn’t require and charge businesses for a license.

“Many calls we get ask about business licenses. It’s been a lost opportunity because they expect it,” said the city’s economic development director, Denarie Kane.

Seaside yoga classes have gotten so popular here that the city is bending over backwards to figure how best to regulate them…”The idea is, we want to make it fair to the other lessons and camps on the beach who are paying to be there,” she said.

Those who didn’t renew were mostly “mom-and-pops,” said Denham Springs Mayor Gerard Landry. “The majority of them were home-based businesses like an attorney or somebody like that.”

Senate Bill 182 from state Sen. Steven Bradford (D-Los Angeles) attempts to make it easier for drivers to comply with local rules governing taxation and registration for independent contractors — an employee classification the companies have long argued fits their drivers.

“This bill would add clarity to the process of obtaining a business license for drivers while protecting working-class Californians from fees and costs that can dramatically impact their ability to do business,” Bradford said in a statement.

There are special services available just for Uber drivers to file for and obtain their business licenses on their behalf.