MN: Bill to smooth arrival of Waymo, other self-driving vehicles hits early Capitol roadblock

Autonomous vehicles are on their way to Minnesota, but lawmakers are struggling to clarify the legal limbo that could threaten their arrival.

Waymo, the robotaxi company backed by Google parent Alphabet, announced it was coming to Minneapolis late last year as it grows beyond its Southwestern and West Coast roots. Its vehicles have been traveling in the city — with human drivers — since then to collect data and map streets as the company works toward offering passenger service in driverless cars.

Waymo’s expansion has put pressure on lawmakers to change state law this year. The law is currently silent on the legality of self-driving vehicles.

Two competing proposals have emerged, with neither yet having a clear path to passage at the Capitol. One plan is backed by labor, and the other is supported by the company. If the Legislature doesn’t pass a bill, it’s unclear how the lack of legal clarity would affect Waymo’s expansion plans in the state.

For now, the company is pushing a bill that would explicitly allow autonomous vehicles. It’s also backed by Republicans and some Democrats, business groups and advocates for people with disabilities.

“We want to partner with the state to develop autonomous vehicle rules and regulations, rather than potentially operating in an uncertain regulatory environment,” Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher wrote in an email to the Minnesota Star Tribune.

Rep. Jon Koznick, R- Lakeville, said his bill would ensure that Minnesota is prepared for “emerging transportation technology and not left behind the rest of the country.”

Backers say the bill would improve road safety and offer new mobility options for Minnesotans. Waymo has published peer-reviewed research suggesting its cars are significantly safer than those with human drivers, though some experts are skeptical.

The bill also would prohibit local governments from setting their own limits or fees on autonomous vehicles. Some Minneapolis City Council members have already said they want to ban them.

Labor advocates and some DFLers, meanwhile, are pushing for a measure that would ban autonomous vehicles until an advisory board could study their impact and develop a permitting process. That bill also would require a human safety operator be present in every vehicle.

“On one hand, we can hand over the keys to a massive corporation with few to no guardrails,” Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, told reporters at a news conference earlier this week. “On the other ... we can make sure Minnesotans have a say in how companies like Waymo affect our streets and our economies.”

The labor-friendly bill, backed by Maye Quade and Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, has not yet been introduced but would likely struggle to get Republican support. And in the closely divided Legislature, every bill needs at least some bipartisan support to become law.

Koznick’s bill could have an easier path, given its bipartisan backing. But it had a rocky hearing in its first committee stop on March 4.

Republicans on the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee repeatedly voted down DFL amendments, including some public transit-friendly provisions and a requirement that operators offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Those rejections frustrated Rep. Erin Koegel, DFL-Spring Lake Park, a cosponsor of the bill.

“I would really hope that we can look at this as a holistic approach in how it’s going to affect our entire community, the jobs in our community,” she said. “But we also can’t stand in the way of progress.”

The bill failed to clear the committee when no DFLers voted for it. Koznick said they would continue to work on it.

Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger told the committee that Koznick’s bill needs changes, including the addition of a permitting process for companies to be managed by the department. That would give the state the power to shut down unsafe operators, she said.

But she generally spoke in favor of automated vehicles, saying the department believes they “will be a part of Minnesota’s very near transportation future. And clear rules and regulations governing the operation of automated vehicles are needed.”

Several people with disabilities said autonomous taxi services would help them more easily travel in their communities. Cole Davies, who sits on the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota‘s board, told the committee his seizures prevent him from driving, which has hurt his career and forced him to rely on his wife for transportation.

“A reliable, easily accessible mode of transportation, capable of taking me exactly where I need to be, would solve all of these issues, improving my life and the ones around me,” Davies said.

Advocates for street safety and public transportation were skeptical of Waymo’s safety claims and said it could eat at Minnesota’s public transit network, which is more accessible to low-income riders.

Drivers spoke of intoxicated passengers, people in wheelchairs, and others who needed help to take a ride. They urged lawmakers not to allow an industry to thrive that could eliminate thousands of jobs.

“We need to slow this thing down,” Juan Morales, a rideshare driver and SEIU Local 26 member, told the committee. “Don’t let them destroy our life.”

©2026 The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Visit startribune.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC