LyftTakes Steps to Come to Sioux Falls

Lyft Takes Steps to Come to City of Sioux Falls

Theride-hailingcompanyLyftistakingthenecessarystepstooperateinSiouxFalls!Thecompanyrecentlywasissuedastate sales tax license and is working with the City ’s licensing office on a transportation network company license.

Lyft is a transportation networking company (TNC) that operates in more than 300 cities nationwide, completing more than 28 million rides per month. Riders must download the Lyft mobile app to their smartphone to connect with Lyft drivers.

“I am absolutely thrilled that Lyft has taken the first necessary steps to operate in our city, ” says City Council Vice Chair Christine Erickson. “Having a nationally recognized ride-sharing company such as Lyft will not only benefit our citizens, but also enhance our economic development efforts. ”

AteamofCityandStateofficials,aswellasresidentGregLaFollette,havebeenworkingformonthstoattractLyfttothecity. Lyft is expected to launch operations in Sioux Falls as soon as they can recruit enough drivers. It’s possible that could be as early as spring 2018.

“ThisbenefitsSiouxFallsinsomanyways.Whetheritbearidehomeafteraconcert,atriptothedoctor’soffice,orabusiness meeting that you need to get to after flying into Sioux Falls, travel just got easier, cheaper, and safer with this quality-of-life and economic development win, ” says Mayor Mike Huether.

In2015,theSiouxFallsCityCouncilpassedanordinancethatchangedlicensingrequirementstoallowtransportationnetwork companies to operate in Sioux Falls. In 2016, the South Dakota State Legislature approved a measure that changed insurance laws to allow companies like Lyft to operate in the state.

For more information about Lyft, go to www.lyft.com.

Is the DOL’s Overtime Rule Under Obama Dead?

By: Aaron Clark

In our last newsletter, we reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) abandoned its position that would have resulted in doubling the overtime salary threshold under the Fair Labor StandardsAct (FLSA) from $23,660 to $47,476.This came after the new overtime rule was blocked by a federal district court inTexas.

You may recall that in November 2016, a federal judge inTexas granted an injunction blocking the overtime rule from taking effect but had not officially declared it to be invalid. Although the case was pending appeal with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the district court still retained jurisdiction to determine whether the Obama overtime rule exceeded the authority grantedtotheDOL.TheTexascourthasnowofficiallyinvalidatedtheovertimeruleonthebasisthatthenewsalarythreshold issohighthattherewouldnolongerbeaneedtoanalyzeanemployee’sjobdutiestoqualifyforanexemption.TheDOLhas dropped the appeal and the litigation between the DOLand various states and business groups is officially over. Thus,theDOL’sovertimeruleunderObamaisdeadandthestatusquocontinueswithasalarylevelat$455perweek/$23,660 per year.

ThequestionthattheTexascourtdancedaroundiswhethertheDOLevenpossessedtheauthoritytodeterminethesalarylevel for overtime exemptions. Although the district court judge invalidated the overtime rule because the salary level set by the DOLwas too high, he was careful not to conclude that the DOLlacked authority to utilize a salary level test. The judge’s decision and the end of the litigation seem to pave the way for the Trump DOLto craft new rules to address the ongoing issues and concerns relating to overtime exemptions. As we reported earlier, the DOL issued a Request for Information(RFI)tothepublicseekingcomments,dataandinformationontheappropriatesalarylevelforexemptemployees. The deadline to submit comments expired on September 25, 2017 and there have been more than 160,000 comments submitted!

It is now up to theTrump DOLto develop a new rule after analyzing all of the feedback received in response to the RFI.The timing of such a proposal is still uncertain. Based on the scope of the questions contained in the RFI, the next set of rules published by the DOL will likely address the “duties test” for various exemptions as well as a new salary level. Statements from the Secretary of Labor,AlexanderAcosta, indicate that the Trump DOLwill likely support a salary level in the low-tomid $30,000 range.