DFL state legislators strike deal with Minneapolis City Council: Uber and Lyft now leaving the entire state

First, the good news. MPR News reports that:

Chief authors of legislation setting a minimum wage and employee protections for rideshare drivers in Minnesota announced Monday they’ve reached a deal with Minneapolis City Council members.

Now the bad news. MPR News also reports that:

…the rideshare companies that have threatened to pull out of Minneapolis if the city’s ordinance goes into effect say they’ll stop operations in Minnesota if the statewide legislation is enacted. 

So, not only has intervention by the state legislature not solved the problem of Uber and Lyft abandoning the Twin Cities, but it has rolled that problem out across the entire state.

This illustrates perfectly the argument against preemption. Those who argue for giving the state government power to overrule local governments are arguing that better policy will result. As this episode shows, it might not, and the negative effects of that bad policy will no longer be contained to the more extreme areas of the state but are something that all Minnesotans will now have to cope with.

Preemptioners: Be careful what you wish for.