The Minneapolis City Council continues to wrestle with the adoption of a new rideshare ordinance that has Uber and Lyft threatening to leave the city, and possibly the entire metro, on May 1.
Despite the objections of the ordinance's authors, Councilmember Andrea Jenkins on Thursday filed a so-called "notice of intent" that will allow members to revisit last week's override of Mayor Jacob Frey's veto of the plan.
"I think it's important for this notice to stand and that we continue to do the good work that people have been doing," says Jenkins. "And when we get the proposal, we will be able to then take a vote on it as a body."
At the same time, Councilmember Jason Chavez says they are working with state officials and lawmakers on the driver minimum wage component, and support a larger, statewide policy.
"City Council leadership in our Intergovernmental Relations Committee Chair continue to work with legislators to ensure that the Minneapolis policy is driven by all available data including specific local information as well as supporting state legislative efforts to bring forward a statewide policy," says Chavez. "We also want a statewide policy to ensure that drivers beyond just Minneapolis are being supported."
Representative Elliott Engen (R- White Bear Township) says the council's ordinance is bad for Minnesota and says Republicans will need Democrats and Governor Tim Walz to work with them to keep Uber and Lyft in the state.
"I know that there are reasonable people on the other side of the aisle that would like to see these rideshare stay as well," says Engen. "We want them to come into the fold here and we can get this done together, and we know that the governor would need Republican votes. So far, I think we're the only people that are coming to the table."
Engen says the council's actions have a wide reaching impact.
"This is going to impact that city, but the entire seven county metro area and state at-large," explained Engen. "We wanted to get something in quick that would keep them at the table while they negotiate this issue."
Governor Tim Walz has also expressed his frustration that the council didn't wait a day for that state study before voting to override. The legislature is considering a statewide ordinance as well.
"Look, I'll bring all the folks together to get this fixed, but just candidly, I'm not super hopeful because of the decision that was made in Minneapolis," the Governor said on Monday. "I certainly would have liked them to wait for the most extensive work being done about what we can do to support drivers and this program."
The ordinance the council passed will increase pay for Uber and Lyft drivers in the city, a move those companies have threatened to leave the city over. The change guarantees drivers get 80% of canceled rides and earn no less than $5 per ride.
Thursday Councilmember Andrea Jenkins filed a so-called "notice of intent" that will allow members to revisit it
