Photo Credit: Walz-Flanagan Campaign
In April of this year, we became aware of a bill that was being sponsored and brought to the floor for a vote regarding ride share in MN.
It was clear that this bill was going to have catastrophic effects on people using Lyft funded by their waiver for independent transportation. If passed, this bill could raise the cost of rides by 300%, making Lyft as a rideshare option for people supported by a waiver no longer an option.
Through our partnerships with other organizations, we were able to keep up to date on the progress of the bill as it moved through committees, as well as the content of the bill. We had updates directly from Lyft and representatives, as well as lobbyists.
We then worked as part of a collective of human services agencies to inform representatives and senators about the language of the bill and the effect this bill would have on over 3000 people with barriers throughout MN.
Unfortunately, we were not successful in stopping the vote at the House or Senate level. We then doubled our efforts and worked to educate the governor, and asked for the bill to be reviewed before it is enacted.
It was a significant effort by many people, but we were successful, and the governor vetoed the bill and set up a special committee to rework it to make sure all populations would be protected.
The GREAT news is that we are all able to utilize Lyft as an option for independent and self-directed transportation. We are actively accepting referrals for Lyft as a transportation option and are working with clients directly for the download, set up, and use of the Lyft app as one-on-one training with our team.
We will also continue our efforts to help communities build a network of Lyft drivers so we can have reliable transportation as an option in communities across MN.
Learn more here: https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-veto-lyft-uber-pay-6407e997298464c931d8c0c1e6e371a0