Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s AB 5 has already generated a lot of pushback for being one of the worst bills ever passed in California—and that’s saying a lot—but pushback isn’t fixing any of the problems that it has caused. Concerned citizens across California are all asking each other the same question: what’s being done to combat AB 5?
The answer is, thankfully, a lot. Republican lawmakers have already come out with several measures to attack AB 5 in every way possible. Whether it be through worker exemptions or a complete repeal, these options serve as a way for citizens to protest AB 5 in a manner that will tangibly change the legislation itself.
There is one outright repeal measure sponsored by Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, AB 1928, which would completely repeal AB 5 based on the rulings in two prior court cases, Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles and Borello Sons Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations.
Additionally, Senators Shannon Grove and Brian Jones co-authored SB 875, which aims to exempt interpreters and translators from being roped into AB 5’s definition of “freelance worker.”
AB 1925, sponsored by Assemblyman Jay Obernolte, was written to exempt small businesses from AB 5, defining a small business as an independently-owned business that is not dominant in its field of operation with fewer than 100 employees and an average of under $15 million in gross receipts over the previous three years.
Senator Patricia Bates penned two bills—SB 867 and SB 868—to address criticisms coming from freelance journalists, who have been more than vocal about their opposition of AB 5. One of the bills intends on making newspaper delivery carriers a permanent exemption from AB 5, as Gonzales had agreed to a one-year temporary exemption for carriers during the bill debates last year. The other aims to exempt all freelance journalists, regardless of the number of submissions they make to their publications per year. As it stands today, AB 5 limits freelancers to 35 pieces per publication before they would be required to become an employee.
Californians who have been impacted by AB 5’s passage will want to keep a close eye on the many pieces of legislation picking the bill apart in the coming months. Their legislators want to offer them an opportunity to push back, and it’s ripe for the taking.
