Loans for rideshare driver vehicles gains committee approval, heads to House Floor

Keeping rideshare companies Uber and Lyft operating in Minnesota has been on a lot of legislator minds the last few months at the Capitol.

Rep. Mohamud Noor (DFL-Mpls) says the bill he sponsors with Senate President Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Mpls) will help do that while also helping rideshare drivers.

As amended, SF4027 would create a rideshare driver’s fund program with a one-time $2 million fiscal year 2025 appropriation from the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s workforce development fund to make no-interest loans to transportation network company drivers to purchase a personal vehicle for providing rideshare services.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved the bill on a voice vote Saturday morning. It is headed to the House Floor.

“This is supporting the drivers,” Noor said. “This is not supporting the multinational companies who are making a lot of money. This is for those drivers who are committed, waking up every single day to provide the service to those who need it in the state of Minnesota.”

Drivers could get a loan for up to $15,000 for a vehicle; $20,000 if it is handicap accessible.

Among other provisions, to qualify for a loan, a rideshare driver must:

• have been a rideshare driver for at least one year;
• have a household income that does not exceed $80,000; and
• demonstrate ability to repay the loan.

Rep. Marion Rarick (R-Maple Lake) has many concerns about the bill’s timing and possible defaults on the loans.

“We’re doing this in the 11th hour, it’s not going through the proper policy committees,” she said. “… We don’t know what the collateral is going to be, we don’t know what we’re going to be doing to try to claw that money back, and this is not part of the global deal to keep Uber Lyft here, why are we doing this today, then?”

Noor’s response: “This is more to allow those who have been coming to us and saying we need a good system, a good transportation system for our state.”