Senator Steven Glazer remarks on Senate Floor regarding Assembly Bill 5

Senator Steven Glazer made remarks on the Senate floor regarding Assembly Bill 5. The following is a full transcript of those remarks.

STEVEN GLAZER, Senator from the 7th Senate District: I rise in support of Assembly Bill 5. I want to thank all the people involved, the author, leadership that put in so much time to bring the bill that's before us today, but in all honesty I do so reluctantly. Unlike what many of you have heard, this bill is not about changing the laws that govern the relationship between employers and their independent contractors. That was done by the Dynamex decision more than a year ago.

What this bill does for the most part is grant exemptions to that court decision, but in my view the bill goes about this task in the wrong way. We should be writing smart broad-based rules that protect California workers from exploitation while giving people the freedom to control their own hours, pay, and work product if they wish to do so. We should be encouraging innovation and empowerment, not forcing people into employment arrangements that they do not want.

But rather than offering sensible rules, this bill provides a list of specific jobs and professions that are exempt from Dynamex. They are the chosen few. We have decided that they get to control their own fate. So doctors and lawyers and accountants are exempt but physical therapists are not. Tutors who teach their own curriculum are exempt but tutors who help students master a public school curriculum are not. Pool cleaners, dog groomers, and picture hangers who get their jobs through referrals are exempt but house painters or plumbers are not. Independent truckers who drive for the construction industry are exempt but the same drivers who haul freight are not.

This last issue is a very important one. Tens of thousands of independent truckers in California have spent their life savings or borrowed against their futures to buy heavy-duty trucks and equip them with engines certified as clean by our air quality regulators. These truckers decide when they want to work, how much they charge, and where they go. They are independent business owners. But by denying them an exemption in this bill we are forcing them to work for somebody else.

If stopping exploitation were the only issue here these truckers who are begging for the freedom to manage their own affairs would surely qualify for an exemption. These are self-made business owners, many of them immigrants using their business to move up the economic ladder. Denying them an exemption from Dynamex will cause major disruption to their lives and to our economy and I predict we will back here dealing with these consequences next year.

We will also be fielding countless requests from other individuals and groups who were not savvy enough to hire a lobbyist to win an exemption in this bill. And for years into the future someone who wants to create a service that doesn't even exist today will have to win the Legislature's approval first. Or many people who pay them as independent contractors will likely be breaking the law.

So I suggest we pass this bill today to provide relief to those who have been lucky enough to win an exemption to the Dynamex ruling with the provisions in this bill. But our work does not end with this vote. In my view it's only the beginning. We must return in January and consider a more comprehensive, balanced reform that protects workers from abuse without picking and choosing which Californians will be allowed to work for themselves and which will be forced to work for The Man.