Court: $15 minimum wage, insurance for cops won't appear on Minneapolis ballot

Updated: 5:25 p.m. | Posted: 3:24 p.m.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that two proposed Minneapolis charter amendments won't be on the ballot this fall.

One ballot question proposed setting a city-wide $15-an-hour minimum wage and the other would mandate that police officers carry professional liability insurance.

Supporters of the higher minimum wage had won a lower court order putting the question to voters in November. The city appealed and the justices reversed the Hennepin County ruling.

The Supreme Court order says the city council has the sole legislative authority in Minneapolis, and the wage measure isn't eligible to be decided by voters.

Ginger Jentzen, who leads the group 15 Now Minnesota, says her polling shows most Minneapolis residents support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour.

"Moving forward, we're still going to run one of the biggest grassroots campaigns the city has ever seen," Jentzen said, "but orienting to get the Minneapolis City Council to pass [it] as an ordinance instead."

In the other case, critics of Minneapolis police wanted officers to carry liability insurance, in part hoping that payouts for misconduct would force out some officers by raising their premiums. But the Supreme Court said that state laws involving police liability and public employees preempt the proposed charter amendment.

Dave Bicking, a member of the Committee for Professional Policing, said the group is prepared to keep fighting in the courts to give voters the chance to weigh in on their initiative.

"We are still absolutely behind this idea. We still have absolute confidence that it is legal in every respect," he said. "There is no conflict with state law."

Bicking says his group and others are exploring further legal actions, though whatever they do won't get the police insurance question on the ballot this fall.

Minneapolis city attorney Susan Segal said she was pleased the Supreme Court supported her office's rationale for rejecting both ballot questions.

Segal said her office will continue to advise the council as it explores raising the minimum wage. Even though the council voted down the minimum wage charter amendment, many members expressed support for boosting base wages in the city.