In California, Protecting Workers Means Outlawing Their Jobs (outlawing independent contractors) As a freelancer, I have the flexibility to do work while I'm at school, or do work late at night, or, you know, not work that week because I'm busy," Kassy Dillon, a journalist and graduate student at Pepperdine University, told Reason in late 2019. On January 1, 2020, earning that extra cash got a lot more difficult. California Assembly Bill 5 was designed to constrain the growth of the so-called gig economy, based on the theory that companies like Uber, Lyft, and Postmates are taking advantage of contract labor. Dozens of professions, including many jobs in health care, commercial fishing, grant writing, hair styling, and the fine arts, are exempt from the law. Journalists were allotted a partial exemption of 35 submissions per year per client, which was negotiated by the bill's author, California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D–80th District). From Reason (free minds and free markets) "Was it a little arbitrary," Gonzalez told the The Hollywood Reporter regarding how she came up with that number, "Yeah. Writing bills with numbers like that are a little bit arbitrary." (Gonzalez declined Reason's interview request.) Vox, which had hailed the new law as a "victory for workers everywhere," announced in December that it will be ending contracts with more than 200 freelancers who lived in or covered California. Those 200 freelance contracts will be replaced with 20 part-time or full-time staff positions. https://reason.com/video/in-california-protecting-workers-means-outlawing-their-jobs/