The MidPoint: Biden Declares War on Working Women

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Welcome to the January MidPoint newsletter. We weigh in on the Biden Labor Department’s long-feared new regulation on independent contractors which is certain to upend flexible work, especially for women. Plus our thoughts on the budget deal and on proposed CFPB regulations on digital payments apps.

Keep reading for the latest economic, labor, and tech analysis from the Independent Women’s Forum’s Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO).

Patrice Onwuka
Director, Center for Economic Opportunity

TOPLINE

Biden’s New Department Of Labor Regulation Wages War On Freelancers And Destroys Flexibility

Yesterday, the Department of Labor released its final rule to determine who can be classified as independent contractors. This rule will be devastating to freelancers nationwide and will have negative economic consequences for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and people who value flexibility, particularly women.

IWF believes that this final rule undermines worker freedom in America by disrupting the work arrangements that provide many benefits to women and workers, including control over one’s time and labor, work-life balance, health and wellness, and fulfillment.

The Biden administration is prioritizing traditional employment over independent work and is willing to force many individuals into those jobs even if they choose not to or cannot work in them. The goal is to have as many individuals in jobs that can be unionized because independent contractors are not unionizable.

This new rule nationalizes the hardship that resulted when California reclassified millions of independent contractors.

This new rule becomes effective on March 11, 2024.
What this means… [keep reading]

BUDGET WATCH

Speaker Johnson’s Budget Deal Improvement on Past, But We Need Further Spending Restraint

Conservatives running the U.S. House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, cut a deal that slows spending relative to 2021–2022, when progressives ran both chambers. However, the budget deal is unlikely to cut our debt.

The topline budget constitutes $1.590 trillion, including $886 billion in defense spending and $704 billion in nondefense discretionary spending. But this amount also doesn’t include some agreed-upon additional spending that brings the total to roughly $1.66 trillion. There are bright spots though. [keep reading]

SPOTLIGHT

Daily Caller | Karen Anderson: Joe Biden And Gavin Newsom Go To War With Freelancers For Their Big Labor Buddies

With the New Year upon us, the freedom to freelance will surely be under attack in 2024 just as it has been throughout the Biden reign on a variety of fronts.

While flexibility is just one factor that makes independent contracting appealing, it’s not the “be-all-end-all” for why millions of Americans choose to be in business for themselves. The anti-freelancer forces cite current work trends that began during the pandemic when employees discovered the convenience of at-home work arrangements, equating this to flexibility. But these remote-work arrangements are not the same as being your own boss. Not by a long shot. [keep reading]

ABOVE THE DOTTED LINE

Labor Policy: Biden Administration Launches War On Working Women With New Labor Rule
Tax Policy: IWF Signs Coalition Letter Supporting Pro-Growth Tax Legislation
Fiscal Policy: America Shatters Another Terrible Record: $34 Trillion National Debt
Tech Policy: Independent Women’s Forum Comments On “Defining Larger Participants Of A Market For General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications”
Welcome: IWF Welcomes Jennifer Oliver O’Connell As A Visiting Fellow
Politics: Newsmax | ‘Racial Realignment’ Means Left Losing Grip On Blacks

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