The investigative arm of Congress would be required to produce a comprehensive study of the ride-sharing industry under legislation spurred by the murder of a New Jersey woman that passed the U.S. House on Wednesday.

Under the bill, the Government Accountability Office would study the incidence of assault and abuse of both ride-sharing passengers and drivers, the quality of the background checks of drivers and of the state and local laws requiring such examinations. It also would look at the safety steps already taken by ride-sharing companies, taxis and other for-hire vehicles.

In addition, businesses could no longer sell signs that allow people to pose as Uber and Lyft drivers unless authorized to do so by the companies.

The legislation, Sami’s Law, was named for Samantha Josephson of Robbinsville. Josephson, 21, a senior at the University of South Carolina, was killed in 2019 after getting into a car she thought was her Uber. The driver, Nathaniel Rowland, was convicted of murder in 2021.

“The need for Sami’s Law is absolutely compelling,” the bill’s chief sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., said on the House floor. “I ask my colleagues: Do any of us really believe that ridesharing on Uber and Lyft are safe, especially for women?”

Sami’s Law was combined with several other bills and approved in one motion by majorities of both parties, 349-80. The only no votes were cast by Republicans, including Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist. Smith and all 10 New Jersey House Democrats voted yes.

The bill now goes to the Senate with the possibility that lawmakers will agree to include it in an omnibus spending bill being drafted to fund the government through next Sept. 30.

But this latest version was weaker than Smith’s original bill, which passed the House in July 2020 but never came up for a vote in the Senate, and the one he reintroduced in February 2021.

Before the bill reached the House floor this week, Smith dropped a provision requiring ride-sharing vehicles to have digital verification systems matching the passenger with the driver. He said that both Lyft and Uber Technologies fought the measure, opposition he called “mind-boggling.”

The two ride-sharing companies spent $2.7 million to lobby the federal government during the first nine month of 2022, according to the research group OpenSecrets. Lyft had no immediate comment, while Uber did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Josephson’s parents, Seymour and Marci, have been frequent visitors to the Capitol, urging Congress to pass the legislation named for their late daughter.

“In Sami’s name,” Smith said during debate, “we act to protect ride-share passengers and their drivers and we take an important first step to safeguard others from unspeakable pain that Seymour and Marci now endure.” The Josephsons “have shared their heart-wrenching story firsthand with so many of us on Capitol Hill,” said Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., who led the floor debate. “Throughout their grief, they have been committed to working so no other family will have to go through this kind of pain and that millions of people who use ride-hailing services can do so to with safety protections in place.”

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a state law named for Sami Josephson in 2019 that requires illuminated signs and digital barcodes on ride-sharing vehicles.

Jonathan D. Salant, NJ Advance Media, jsalant@njadvancemedia.com