As an overflow crowd of immigrant cab drivers and disabled passengers watched intently, a House committee postponed a hotly contested measure that would end the near-monopoly that three cab firms have over the Denver area market.

But the House Transportation and Energy Committee did advance a bill requiring the three cab companies to disclose the lease fees they charge drivers, fees that many call exorbitant.

After grappling with 24 amendments to the original bill that would deregulate cab service, several lawmakers said they need more time to understand how to fix the complex problem.

"The last thing we want to do is create more problems than we've solved," said Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder.

Instead, Rep. Alice Borodkin was deputized to create a working group of lawmakers, cab companies and independent drivers eager to break free and launch their own taxi cooperatives.

The panel's task will be to hash out a fix for the troubled taxi system, which has generated 23 reform bills and complaints from irate passengers.

"We're going to get down and dirty and hammer this thing out once and for all," said Borodkin, D-Denver, who has watched four taxi reform bills founder during seven years on the committee.

Anxious lawmakers were aware of what Chairwoman Buffie McFadyen, D-Pueblo, called "the donkey in the room," meaning the urgency to ensure reliable taxi service before the 2008 Democratic National Convention rolls into Denver with 35,000 visitors and the international media spotlight.

Borodkin said she would work with stakeholders and the sponsor of the original deregulation measure, Rep. Jerry Frangas, D-Denver, to deliver a solid reform proposal to the summer Transportation Legislative Review Committee. The goal is to produce a successful bill in next year's legislative session.

Frangas and as many as 500 African immigrant cabbies hungering to be their own bosses were disappointed that the original deregulation bill was wiped out by McFadyen's narrow amendment of House Bill 1114.

Cabbies cheered, however, as the committee unanimously advanced the revamped bill. It requires cab companies to file their lease agreements with the state Public Utilities Commission. Under the lease agreements, companies charge independent drivers as much as $600 a week to rent a taxi or to put the company name on their private vehicle.

Robyn Hogg, who uses a wheelchair because of diabetes, was relieved to not lose the specially trained drivers for Yellow Cab's van service for the disabled.

The disabled and elderly have protested that some cab firms are reluctant to take short fares, forcing passengers to wait hours for a cab - if it shows up at all.

gathrighta@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5486