One more industry freed
The Institute for Justice, Minnesota chapter, continues the string of successes in our over-regulated, over-taxed state. As they have in other cities, this IJ advocacy looks to finally break the taxi cartel in Minneapolis. Here is their press release issued today:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6, 2006
CONTACT: Nick Dranias (612) 435-3451 or Bob Ewing (703) 682-9320
Minneapolis Busts-Up its Taxi Cartel
Taxi Reform Will Be Good for Consumers & Entrepreneurs
"Minneapolis has finally broken a cartel it created decades ago," said Institute for Justice Minnesota Chapter Staff Attorney Nick Dranias. "Residents and visitors of Minneapolis can now look forward to the benefits of good-old-fashioned competition.
"We encourage Mayor Rybak to approve this ordinance as soon as it hits his desk," said Lee McGrath, IJ-Minnesota's Executive Director. "Not only does this reform help restore the first rung of the economic ladder to entrepreneurs of modest means, it could not have come at a better time." There should be 90 new cabs on the streets by the time of the 2008 Republican National Convention.
The Institute for Justice Minnesota Chapter worked hard to support the leadership of City Council Members Don Samuels, Gary Schiff, Paul Ostrow and Cam Gordon. IJ-MN mounted a sustained campaign in the court of public opinion promoting reform efforts, spotlighted the success of similar taxi reforms enacted by the City of St. Paul, Indianapolis, and the Metropolitan Airport Commission, and assisted entrepreneur-immigrants from Ecuador, Egypt, Laos and Somalia who sought to navigate and overcome the City's anti-competitive regulatory and political processes. Among those who testified for reform were Professor Jerry Fruin of the University of Minnesota, Center for Transportation Studies, and Professor Robert Hardaway of the University of Denver College of Law.
This legislative victory is the fourth success in the IJ-MN's campaign to restore constitutional protection for economic liberty-the right to earn an honest living free from excessive government regulation-as a basic civil right under both the Minnesota State and U.S. Constitutions. The first was Anderson v. Minnesota Board of Barber and Cosmetologist Examiners, in which IJ-MN successfully freed African hairbraiders from the State of Minnesota's onerous cosmetology licensing regime. The second was Crockett v. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, in which IJ-MN successfully stopped the government from enforcing a blanket ban on advertising, soliciting or using the Internet to conduct lawful, direct sales of wine. The third was Dahlen v. City of Minneapolis, which vindicated the constitutional principle that procedural due process requires notice, an opportunity to be heard and a timely decision based on knowable standards.
Institute for Justice-Challenging Sign hanging Law
October DATE, 2006
Page Two of Two
As part of its advocacy for economic liberty, IJ-MN published a 21-page paper, titled The Land Of 10,000 Lakes Drowns Entrepreneurs in Regulations, which exposed the shocking state of Minneapolis' Taxi Code, among other occupational regulations. The report is available at www.ij.org/publications/city_study/index.html.
Until the law's passage, three nearly insurmountable government-imposed hurdles stood in the way of operating any taxi business in the City of Minneapolis: 1) the "taxi vehicle" license cap through which the City arbitrarily limited the number of cabs that could provide service to 343; 2) the requirement to join an existing taxi company as a precondition of holding any existing taxi vehicle license; and 3) the restricted issuance of new, reissued or temporary taxi vehicle licenses to existing taxi service companies. The first hurdle completely blocked entry to anyone who could not afford to pay $25,000 for a taxicab vehicle license from an existing license holder on the secondary market. The second and third hurdles blocked competition because they were interpreted by the City to require entrepreneurs to first join with existing taxi companies before they could obtain a taxi vehicle license. The newly enacted taxi reforms not only gradually eliminate the license cap, but they also made the second and third hurdles much easier to cross by allowing entrepreneurs to apply for taxi vehicle licenses without being required first to join an existing taxi company.
"Our legislative and litigation successes should serve as a wake-up call to governments throughout Minnesota," said McGrath. ""We invite other entrepreneurs to join us in challenging irrational barriers to entry and we urge the legislative, executive and judicial branches to protect economic liberty by reviewing new and existing occupational licensing schemes with an appropriately skeptical eye."
Opened in 2005, the Minnesota Chapter is one of three state chapters of the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm founded in 1991 to advance free speech, property rights, educational choice and economic liberty. Headquartered in Arlington Va., the Institute for Justice has a long record of success in representing entrepreneurial Davids against governmental Goliaths.
# # #
[NOTE: To arrange interviews on this subject, journalists may call Bob Ewing, the Institute for Justice's communication coordinator, at (703) 682-9320 ext. 206 or in the evening/weekend at (202) 494-2567. For an on-line media kit, visit www.ij.org. ]
INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
1600 RAND TOWER
527 MARQUETTE AVENUE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402-1330
PH (612) 435-3451 FAX (612) 435-5875
HOME PAGE: WWW.IJ.ORG/MINNESOTA
1600 RAND TOWER
527 MARQUETTE AVENUE
MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55402-1330
PH (612) 435-3451 FAX (612) 435-5875
HOME PAGE: WWW.IJ.ORG/MINNESOTA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 6, 2006
CONTACT: Nick Dranias (612) 435-3451 or Bob Ewing (703) 682-9320
Minneapolis Busts-Up its Taxi Cartel
Taxi Reform Will Be Good for Consumers & Entrepreneurs
"Minneapolis has finally broken a cartel it created decades ago," said Institute for Justice Minnesota Chapter Staff Attorney Nick Dranias. "Residents and visitors of Minneapolis can now look forward to the benefits of good-old-fashioned competition.
"We encourage Mayor Rybak to approve this ordinance as soon as it hits his desk," said Lee McGrath, IJ-Minnesota's Executive Director. "Not only does this reform help restore the first rung of the economic ladder to entrepreneurs of modest means, it could not have come at a better time." There should be 90 new cabs on the streets by the time of the 2008 Republican National Convention.
The Institute for Justice Minnesota Chapter worked hard to support the leadership of City Council Members Don Samuels, Gary Schiff, Paul Ostrow and Cam Gordon. IJ-MN mounted a sustained campaign in the court of public opinion promoting reform efforts, spotlighted the success of similar taxi reforms enacted by the City of St. Paul, Indianapolis, and the Metropolitan Airport Commission, and assisted entrepreneur-immigrants from Ecuador, Egypt, Laos and Somalia who sought to navigate and overcome the City's anti-competitive regulatory and political processes. Among those who testified for reform were Professor Jerry Fruin of the University of Minnesota, Center for Transportation Studies, and Professor Robert Hardaway of the University of Denver College of Law.
This legislative victory is the fourth success in the IJ-MN's campaign to restore constitutional protection for economic liberty-the right to earn an honest living free from excessive government regulation-as a basic civil right under both the Minnesota State and U.S. Constitutions. The first was Anderson v. Minnesota Board of Barber and Cosmetologist Examiners, in which IJ-MN successfully freed African hairbraiders from the State of Minnesota's onerous cosmetology licensing regime. The second was Crockett v. Minnesota Department of Public Safety, in which IJ-MN successfully stopped the government from enforcing a blanket ban on advertising, soliciting or using the Internet to conduct lawful, direct sales of wine. The third was Dahlen v. City of Minneapolis, which vindicated the constitutional principle that procedural due process requires notice, an opportunity to be heard and a timely decision based on knowable standards.
Institute for Justice-Challenging Sign hanging Law
October DATE, 2006
Page Two of Two
As part of its advocacy for economic liberty, IJ-MN published a 21-page paper, titled The Land Of 10,000 Lakes Drowns Entrepreneurs in Regulations, which exposed the shocking state of Minneapolis' Taxi Code, among other occupational regulations. The report is available at www.ij.org/publications/city_study/index.html.
Until the law's passage, three nearly insurmountable government-imposed hurdles stood in the way of operating any taxi business in the City of Minneapolis: 1) the "taxi vehicle" license cap through which the City arbitrarily limited the number of cabs that could provide service to 343; 2) the requirement to join an existing taxi company as a precondition of holding any existing taxi vehicle license; and 3) the restricted issuance of new, reissued or temporary taxi vehicle licenses to existing taxi service companies. The first hurdle completely blocked entry to anyone who could not afford to pay $25,000 for a taxicab vehicle license from an existing license holder on the secondary market. The second and third hurdles blocked competition because they were interpreted by the City to require entrepreneurs to first join with existing taxi companies before they could obtain a taxi vehicle license. The newly enacted taxi reforms not only gradually eliminate the license cap, but they also made the second and third hurdles much easier to cross by allowing entrepreneurs to apply for taxi vehicle licenses without being required first to join an existing taxi company.
"Our legislative and litigation successes should serve as a wake-up call to governments throughout Minnesota," said McGrath. ""We invite other entrepreneurs to join us in challenging irrational barriers to entry and we urge the legislative, executive and judicial branches to protect economic liberty by reviewing new and existing occupational licensing schemes with an appropriately skeptical eye."
Opened in 2005, the Minnesota Chapter is one of three state chapters of the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm founded in 1991 to advance free speech, property rights, educational choice and economic liberty. Headquartered in Arlington Va., the Institute for Justice has a long record of success in representing entrepreneurial Davids against governmental Goliaths.
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