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From Mike Rowe: Chronic Freelancer Mike Rowe Goes to Bat for Independent Contractors In America
Of all the really bad ideas currently moldering before Congress, The PRO Act has got to be among the most odious. If it passes, no less than 70,000,000 independent contractors across the country will lose their independent status. Tens of thousands of truck drivers, graphic artists, dance instructors, cameramen, speech therapists, real estate agents, skilled tradespeople, and countless other Americans who would prefer not to labor as a traditional employee, will be forced to do so…or find a new line of work. Likewise, thousands of small businesses who are simply unable to hire full time employees will be forced to close.
The PRO Act was spawned in California, under the name AB-5, or Assembly Bill 5. Its stated purpose was to “protect” workers from being deliberately “misclassified” by greedy employers, who sought to avoid providing them with the benefits to which California employees are entitled. But that premise is not rooted in reality. That’s not to say such “misclassification” never happens – it does, and when it does, there should be consequences for the employer. But the degree to which workers are being “misclassified” has been wildly overblown, especially when compared to the “solution” that AB-5 provided – the wholesale destruction of the right to freelance. In other words, AB-5 was a cookie-cutter solution that gutted the freelance industry in California. The Pro Act will do the same thing nationally.
