TOPEKA – Ride-hailing company Uber says it is pulling out of Kansas after the state Legislature overrode Gov. Sam Brownback’s veto of new regulations. Uber’s front people said in a statement shortly after Tuesday’s House vote that it was ceasing operations in the state. According to an Associated Press report, the Republican-held Senate and House both had more than a two-thirds majority to override the veto of the bill, which would require drivers to undergo Kansas Bureau of Investigation background checks.
Uber spokeswoman Lauren Altmin claims this new bill has cost “hundreds of Kansas jobs and thousands of new earning opportunities in the coming years.” She also claims that overriding Brownback’s veto makes Kansas the first state to force Uber out with “unbalanced, backward regulations.”
Some take issue with Uber’s claim, and according to Senate President Susan Wagle, who spoke with the Kansas City Star via email, Uber’s just trying to drum up some sympathy. “The Legislature has not taken any action preventing them from operating,” she said in an email. “They have a consistent pattern of irrational behavior, and this is just the latest example.”
This isn’t the first time Uber has beat the gong of over-regulation and obstructionism. It’s a shrewd tactic, and red meat for enthusiastic Libertarians needing little provocation to spin into a frothing frenzy. Sometimes the tactic works, and opponents simply concede to negotiation rather than deal with a bunch of enraged Randians. But not this time. It takes a lot more to rattle the windswept Kansas legislature.
Political theater is political theater, and money is money. Look for Uber to click its red heels three times, then return to land of ahhs after the dust settles, all forgiven.