The Broader Impacts of Prop 22 Passing in a Landslide

Proposition 22, a California ballot measure calling for the exemption of rideshare and delivery drivers being classified as employees, passed by what could be called a landslide - 58% for vs. 41% against. 

Prop 22 passing is a major win for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other app-based rideshare and delivery firms. 

It means they won't have to reclassify their drivers as employees, which would have been required had the measure failed.

But as CNBC's What Uber, Lyft Prop 22 win could mean for the future of all freelance work points out, Prop 22 passing has broader impacts.  Key quote:

Independent contractors across the country might breathe a sigh of relief in that California voters sent a message to the state’s legislators that AB 5, the law which was enacted to classify freelancers as employees, is widely unpopular. Other states, including New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York and Illinois, have been among those considering crafting legislation to force companies to deem freelancers as employees. Now those states can more clearly see the risks, experts say.

Worker classification is another issue that is handled very differently by blue and red states.  Blue states tend to have stricter laws requiring workers classified as traditional employees than red states.  

And since California is one of the bluest of blue states, Prop 22 passing by such a large margin will very much be noticed by elected officials of other states - and also at the Federal level. 

Key quote on the broader impact from CNN's Prop 22 passes in California, exempting Uber and Lyft from classifying drivers as employees:

Robert Reich, a public policy professor at UC Berkeley and former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration who endorsed a No vote, told CNN Business last week that the outcome of the vote will be "very significant."

 

"Uber and Lyft figure if they win in California they can win political fights in the rest of the states, and probably Congress," said Reich in an e-mail.

 

Prop 22 passing is hardly the end of the political and legal wrangling around the gig economy and freelance worker classification.  To paraphrase Churchill, it's probably not even the beginning of the end of these battles.

 

But perhaps it's the beginning of a process that results in well thought out legislation that clearly defines who is, and is not, and independent contractor.  

 

The articles listed above nicely cover the potential broader impacts of Prop 22 passing, so we won't bother repeating them.  See them for more details.