It's Go Time

Inside the White House and on Capitol Hill, Republicans now have multiple ways to support America's independent contractors.

A few things happened this week that are significant in the fight to stop freelance busting. These developments make me hopeful that the Republican Party intends to flex its trifecta muscle in Washington on behalf of independent contractors.

First, U.S. Representative Kevin Kiley, R-California—a longtime champion of independent contractors—introduced two bills on Capitol Hill to try and protect us from the kind of insanity we’ve all been forced to fend off since the current wave of freelance-busting began in California with Assembly Bill 5 in 2018-19.

One bill is the Modern Worker Empowerment Act, which would amend federal labor laws to establish a clear and predictable test for determining whether a worker is classified as an independent contractor or an employee.

The other bill is the Modern Worker Security Act, which would establish a federal safe harbor that allows companies to voluntarily provide portable benefits to independent contractors without the risk of federal agencies reclassifying those workers as employees.

In introducing the legislation, Rep. Kiley stated:

“California’s disastrous AB 5 law wreaked havoc on independent workers, stripping them of their ability to work on their own terms and forcing businesses to cut off contractor relationships. Shifting federal regulations threaten to impose similar uncertainty nationwide, putting millions of workers at risk. By codifying both these protections into law, we prevent future administrations from undermining independent workers and provide businesses with the confidence to fully engage with a modern, flexible workforce.”

Amen to every single word of that!

The big question now is whether the Republicans will use their trifecta control in Washington to get these bills into law. Everyone who wants to stop freelance busting should contact their own U.S. House representative and ask them to be co-sponsors.

Another question is whether the full Republican Party will embrace the policy position that Rep. Kiley is staking out on behalf of us all. On that front, there were a couple of noteworthy developments this week too.

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Vice President JD Vance was in Paris to give a speech at a multinational summit about artificial intelligence. A full transcript of the speech is here if you’d like to read it, but the important part for independent contractors was when he talked about plans to involve U.S. workers in policymaking decisions.

Vice President Vance stated:

“As AI creates new jobs and industries, our government, businesses and labor organizations have an obligation to work together to empower the workers, not just of the United States, but all over the world. To that end, for all major AI policy decisions coming from the federal government, the Trump administration will guarantee American workers a seat at the table, and we’re very proud of that.”

My question after hearing that part of his speech was: Which American workers will be guaranteed a seat at the policymaking table?

New government data yet again shows that the vast majority of U.S. workers are not union members. Among wage and salary employees, only 9.9% are in unions. That means 90% of employees are not unionized, on top of all the tens of millions of independent contractors who, by a factor of 80%, say we wish to remain self-employed (meaning out of the reach of union organizers, too).

So, if the Trump-Vance administration intends to guarantee American workers a seat at the policymaking table, it’s going to have to include more than union leaders in those seats. The truth is that union leaders do not represent anything even remotely close to the majority of American workers. Non-union employees and independent contractors should have the majority of seats at that table, if what we’re after here is reasonable and proportional representation.

This reality is something that should be brought to light on the national stage next week, when the delayed confirmation hearing for U.S. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is scheduled to take place before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. That hearing has been moved to February 19.

What I’m hearing out of Washington is that Chavez-DeRemer likely has enough bipartisan support to get her nomination through—but at least some Republicans will be doing their best at the hearing to get her on the record about plans for independent-contractor policy.

This kind of questioning is important, because in the past, Chavez-DeRemer has stood against those of us who are self-employed. I look forward to hearing what she has to say on the record at next week’s hearing, and I encourage everyone to contact members of the Senate HELP Committee prior to February 19. Urge these senators to make nailing down independent-contractor policy a priority during the confirmation process.

It’s an exciting time for those of us who have been fighting freelance busting for years now at the state and federal levels. I’m hopeful that the Republicans will continue to have our backs on this policy issue.

No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, if you want to protect everyone’s freedom to hang out a shingle and be our own bosses, please reach out to your lawmakers and make your voice heard on this policy issue.

It’s go time, people. Let’s get this done so that our livelihoods can never, ever be threatened this way again.