West Virginia Press Association
WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (Labor-HHS), joined 31 of her Senate Republican colleagues to introduce a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution to overturn the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) final worker classification rule. Specifically, the rule threatens the gig economy and jeopardizes the ability of 27 million Americans to work as independent contractors.
This effort was led U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.), Ranking Member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, after the DOL’s final rule was released earlier this year.
“This rule from the Biden administration places unnecessary burdens on freelancers and makes it harder for them to work in a way that best fits their individual needs and schedules. Overturning this rule would take power away from bureaucrats in Washington and give individuals the freedom to work on their own terms,” Ranking Member Capito said.
BACKGROUND:
Independent contractors, or freelancers, make their own hours to fit their schedule and decide where and how they want to work. The Biden administration rule attempts to restrict the ability of American workers to be an independent contractor and take advantage of the flexibility it provides.
The rule creates a non-exhaustive, six-factor litmus test for unelected bureaucrats to interpret and decide who is and who is not classified as an independent contractor. It also casts as large a net as possible and gives less legal certainty to independent contractors impacted by the regulation.
The is also a growing number of organizations opposed to the new policy, including the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), the Coalition for Workforce Innovation (CWI), the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), TechNet, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.-03) introduced the companion CRA resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives.
