Minnesota House Republicans Side With Big Business in Attack on Noncompete Ban
Washington, D.C. — Following the introduction of legislation from Minnesota House Republicans to partially roll back the state’s landmark ban on noncompete agreements — adding salary caps and a “trade secrets” exemption to the state’s omnibus jobs and economic development bill — the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.
“The Minnesota legislature and Governor Walz cannot permit House Republicans to slice and dice the state’s landmark law to ban restrictive noncompete agreements,” said Pat Garofalo, Director of State and Local Policy at the American Economic Liberties Project. “Minnesota workers, business owners, and consumers are all better off with a comprehensive ban, which ensures that corporations can’t unfairly use their power to trap Minnesota employees in their jobs, push down wages across the board, and stifle innovation and new business creation.”
“Adding salary caps and inserting a loophole-laden ‘trade secrets’ provision — despite trade secret laws already being on books — reflects exactly what corporate lobbyists have been pushing for: a way for dominant companies to claw back their power over workers and prevent entrepreneurs from starting up new Minnesota businesses and creating new Minnesota jobs,” Garofalo added. “We urge all Minnesota legislators to take a strong stance against this provision to ensure that not a single Minnesotan has to suffer under one of these abusive agreements.”
Learn more about Economic Liberties here.
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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.