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California: Don’t Make it Harder to Earn a Living

June 10, 2020

June 10, 2020

Coronavirus-related lockdowns have created employment challenges across America, with many losing their jobs, losing hours, or seeing their paychecks cut. We should be making it easier for Americans to earn a living—but in California, one law is doing just the opposite.

This job-killing law, Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), deprives workers of the right to choose freelance status. The Goldwater Institute recently filed a brief in a lawsuit brought by the Pacific Legal Foundation, challenging AB5 on behalf of a group of journalists—since the law limits freelance writers to 35 submissions every year (although some writers, such as poets, are apparently not subject to the same restriction). But freelancers aren’t the only workers affected: This rule restricts freedom of economic choice for everyone. AB5 applies to all gig workers and is intended to make it harder for them to make their own employment decisions.

Goldwater Institute Vice President for Litigation Timothy Sandefur joined Crave News host Kent Emmons for a discussion about AB5—you can watch the full interview above. In addition to AB5, they discuss some landmark Goldwater Institute efforts to bring more freedom to more people, including our Right to Try law and our work to protect the right of homeowners to share their homes with overnight guests as short-term rentals.

 

 

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