All the Reasons Why

On this webinar, our panel gave an in-depth talk about two bills Congressman Kevin Kiley just introduced to protect independent contractors.

I was grateful to be included earlier this week on a virtual briefing panel that the Institute for the American Worker put together about two important bills that Congressman Kevin Kiley, R-California, just introduced in Washington, D.C., to try and help independent contractors nationwide.

My role in this webinar was as the “real person” who earns a living as an independent contractor. The policy, legal and economics experts on the panel are:

• Vinnie Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker

• Liya Palagashvili, economist at the Mercatus Center and the voice behind the Labor Market Matters newsletter

• Jonathan Wolfson, chief legal officer and policy director at the Cicero Institute

• Huntley Campbell, legislative aide to Congressman Kiley

If you don’t have time to watch the one-hour webinar, here are the key takeaways:

• H.R. 1319, the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, focuses on establishing a reasonable classification standard for independent contractors.

• H.R. 1320, the Modern Worker Security Act, would allow companies to give independent contractors access to benefits such as group health insurance without risking government claims of misclassification.

• Both bills are necessary because of the incessant attacks that independent contractors continue to face against our basic freedom to earn a living. These bills would establish strong bulwarks against freelance busting at the federal level.

Most important: Both bills need co-sponsors to advance in the House of Representatives, where things are, in a word, hectic. We don’t want these independent-contractor bills to get lost in the shuffle of higher-profile policy areas that are on the nightly news.

How You Can Help

I speak from experience when I tell you that emails and calls to members of Congress can really, really make a difference.

Lawmakers—especially Republicans, who are in the majority now—need to know that we want this issue to be prioritized during the current session of Congress. Our opponents are extremely good at organizing phone banks to flood lawmakers with calls. The voices of real independent contractors can break through that noise and help get legislation like this across the finish line.

Please contact your member of Congress and ask him or her to co-sponsor H.R. 1319 and H.R. 1320.

Click here if you don’t know who you representative is. Type in your ZIP Code, and make sure they learn your name as a concerned voter on this issue.