Biden advocates for implementing California’s controversial freelance ban, potentially jeopardizing millions of jobs

The Labor Department has recently implemented 300 pages of new regulations that aim to reclassify many individual contractors as payroll employees.

According to CNBC, this move could potentially help freelancers “recover lost wages.”

However, this assertion is simply unfounded.

These new rules will actually make it more challenging for some freelancers to support their families and pursue their desired work.

This is evident from what transpired in California.

Four years ago, unions influenced Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez to pass a law that reclassified gig workers.

They were promised higher wages, overtime pay, and other benefits.

The media praised this law, with Vox even calling it “a big win for workers everywhere.”

However, the reality was starkly different – shortly after the law was enacted, Vox Media laid off hundreds of freelancers.

Freelance musician Ari Herstand shared his experience of no longer being able to simply pay other musicians by writing them a check.

California’s anti-freelance law aimed to protect Uber and Lyft drivers from abuse, but many drivers actually preferred the independence of their freelance status.

Union-backed politicians like Gonzalez argued that they knew better, claiming that the flexibility of freelance work often led to exploitation.

However, as is often the case with poorly crafted laws, politically connected individuals managed to secure exemptions for themselves. Truck drivers, writers, artists, musicians, and even Uber and Lyft received exemptions from the law.

Despite these exemptions, freelance workers in California still lost job opportunities.

The US Department of Labor now plans to enforce similar restrictions on freelance work nationwide, replicating California’s detrimental approach.

This move is irrational, especially considering the negative outcomes observed in California.

President Biden further intends to push a union-backed bill called the PRO Act, which would replicate California’s reclassification of workers without any exemptions.

It seems that politicians fail to learn from past mistakes, as Biden proudly declares himself to be “the most pro-union president in American history.”

John Stossel is the author of “Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media.”