House expected to vote on driver pay minimums

The state House is set to take up the contentious bill that would raise pay rates for people who drive for apps like Uber and Lyft.

Both companies have said they will leave Minnesota if the bill becomes law, with pay rates of $1.27 per mile and 49 cents per minute.

The vote comes after two alternatives to Uber and Lyft debuted in Minneapolis this month, and as the Minneapolis City Council signaled willingness to lower pay rates in the ordinance the council passed in March. The full city council will vote on the rates next week, lowering the Minneapolis pay rates but the numbers are still far higher than the companies’ proposed rates.

Gov. Tim Walz vetoed a measure last year that included higher per-minute and per-mile rates, and has not agreed to the proposed rates that DFL legislative leaders worked out with the Minneapolis city council.

A study ordered by the state Department of Labor and Industry estimated that for drivers in the Twin Cities metro, it would take 89 cents per mile and 49 cents per minute to approximate the state’s minimum wage, or $1.21 per mile to provide drivers with more benefits. The range was higher for greater Minnesota drivers, with the study’s suggested per-mile rate ranging from $1.16 to $1.40 because drivers tend to travel a greater distance between fares.

The DFL legislative leaders backing the bill have said their proposed $1.27 per-mile rate was an effort to split the difference between metro and outstate rates.

Uber and Lyft have not agreed to either rate, with Uber proposing 68 cents per mile and 41 cents per minute. As the bill advances, Uber is using its app to ask riders to lobby their legislators against the bill.