Fight for Freelancers Commends NJ Lawmakers for Pulling S4204/A5936

Ad hoc coalition calls for independent contractors to be given a seat at the table should similar legislation be introduced in the next session

NEW JERSEY  January 8, 2019 — N.J. Senate President Steve Sweeney told NJ Advance Media today that Senate bill 4204 and Assembly bill 5936 will not be scheduled for votes in this lame-duck legislative session, which ends Monday. The bills were purported to protect workers from misclassification, but independent contractors throughout the state voiced opposition, citing potential harm to their businesses.

Fight For Freelancers, an ad hoc coalition of independent contractors from various industries, is happy to see Senator Sweeney’s comments tonight about wanting to be fair to legitimate independent workers.

“We are pleased that New Jersey’s leaders listened to independent contractors and recognized that a different path must be taken to address worker misclassification while still protecting the tax-paying freelancers who want to keep working that way,” said Kim Kavin of Long Valley, a founding member of Fight for Freelancers. “We understand the problem that lawmakers are trying to solve, and we want to work with them to solve it in a way that does not destroy the thriving careers of legitimate independent contractors.”

Fight For Freelancers was launched in November by freelance writers and editors, and quickly grew to include a wide variety of professions that S4204 and A5936 would have affected. The group includes musicians, doctors, ESL teachers, interpreters, translators, yoga instructors, truckers, graphic designers, advertising executives and others.

The American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Press Photographers Association sued the State of California over the unconstitutionality of similar legislation, AB5, which went into effect January 1. Meanwhile, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order protecting 70,000 independent truckers in California from the effects of that law.

Fight For Freelancers is now partnering with California Freelance Writers United and Fight For Freelancers NY, which opposes similar legislation recently introduced in Albany. National bills HR2474 and S1306 have been introduced, and are endorsed by most of the Democratic presidential candidates, and contain the same deeply flawed language as the state-level bills. Fight For Freelancers is also working to change the federal bills, most recently issuing an open letter to Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez.

“We have shown that it is possible for everyday citizens to win this battle to protect their livelihoods against misguided legislation,” Kavin says. “We need state and federal lawmakers to write this legislation in a way that doesn’t have unnecessary and catastrophic financial effects.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that one in 10 Americans are independent contractors, and that nearly 80 percent prefer freelancing over traditional jobs.

“We hope to be given a meaningful seat at the table should New Jersey lawmakers introduce another version of this legislation in 2020 or beyond,” Kavin said. “We are ready to bring ideas.”

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