Welcome to the Monday, June 1, Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:

1. Super Junesday arrives

2. Reviewing one month of reopening America

3. Californians to decide whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors

Learn more

       

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Super Junesday arrives

Tomorrow—June 2—marks ‘Super Junesday,’ when millions of voters will head to the polls in one of the most crowded election days of the year. All told, Ballotpedia is covering 1,990 primary elections for 1,011 offices in 12 states and Washington, D.C. Presidential primaries will be held in seven states and Washington, D.C. 

Last week we highlighted selections from the 14 battleground primaries being held tomorrow. This included: 

• Iowa’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary, 
• The Republican primary in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District, 
• Both party’s primaries in Pennsylvania’s 1st Congressional District, and 
• Both party’s primaries in the Montana gubernatorial race. 

To finish our previews off, today we’re looking at the Republican primary for Iowa’s 4th Congressional District.

Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve King (R) faces four challengers. Political observers have identified King and state Sen. Randy Feenstra (R) as top candidates. Steve Reeder (R), Bret Richards (R), and Jeremy Taylor (R) are also on the ballot. A Politico preview of the primary said it was likely to be King's "toughest race since he was elected to the House almost 20 years ago."

King was first elected to the House in 2002. Feenstra is a professor of business and public administration and a three-term state senator.

As of May 13, Feenstra had raised $930,000 to $330,000 for King. Satellite spending in the race has largely been in support of Feenstra. As of May 29, satellite groups had reported spending $580,000 to support Feenstra or oppose King and $11,000 to support King.

King's challengers say they are running because of King's performance in the 2018 election, when he defeated J.D. Scholten (D) 50.3% to 47.0%. In 2016, King defeated Kim Weaver (D) 61.2% to 38.6%. King’s challengers also say they are running because he was stripped of his committee assignments in January 2019. King says he is confident GOP leadership will restore his committee assignments after he wins re-election.

A Democrat last won election to this district in 1992.

If you’re as excited about Junesday as I am, be sure to join staff writer David Luchs and me on Thursday, June 4, as we walk through the notable results and trends following the elections. We’ll give you a high-level overview and touch on the impact COVID-19 had on these elections. Click here to reserve your spot today!

Reviewing one month of reopening America

June has arrived. We’re at a point where the stay-at-home orders of 36 out of the 43 states that issued them have expired. A lot has changed in the past few months. As we start June, let’s take a look back at what life was like on May 1, just a short 31 days ago. 

May 1:

• 13 states had reopenings in progress
• 21 states had announced reopening plans
• 15 states had not announced a reopening plan.
   

June 1:

• 49 states have reopenings in progress.
• One state (South Dakota) never issued a stay-at-home order or closed businesses

Below is a snapshot of the news in the following categories on the first days of April, May, and June:

Stay-at-home orders

• April 1: 37 of the 50 states had issued statewide shutdown orders. Seven of those orders were set to last until modified or rescinded by the governor, while the other 30 announced end dates.

• May 1: 43 of the 50 states had issued statewide shutdown orders. Eight of those orders were set to last until modified or rescinded by the governor, while the other 35 had announced end dates.

• June 1: 43 of the 50 states issued statewide shutdown orders. These orders have ended in 36 states. Seven remain in effect.

Lawsuits

• May 1: Ballotpedia had tracked 56 lawsuits, spanning 29 states, relating to governmental actions undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rulings had been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 15 of those lawsuits.

• June 1: Ballotpedia has tracked 95 lawsuits, spanning 33 states, relating to governmental actions undertaken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rulings have been issued, or settlements have been reached, in 34 of those lawsuits.

Election changes

• April 1: Sixteen states and one territory altered state-level primary or general election dates.

• May 1: Twenty states and one territory had postponed state-level primary or special elections.

• June 1:  Twenty states and one territory have postponed state-level primary or special elections.

Ballot measure changes

• April 1: Ballotpedia tracked 13 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature gathering.

  • Three states had changed ballot measure procedures.

• May 1: Ballotpedia tracked 20 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature-gathering.

  • Six states had changed ballot measure procedures.

• June 1:  Ballotpedia has tracked 22 statewide initiative petition drives that suspended signature gathering.

  • Seven states and Washington, D.C. have changed ballot measure procedures.

School closures

• April 1: Forty-eight states had ordered a statewide school closure. Seven states had closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year.

• May 1: All 50 states had ordered a statewide school closure in some form.  Forty-four states had closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year.

• June 1:  Forty-eight states have closed schools to in-person instruction for the remainder of the academic year. The two that did not are Montana and Wyoming.

State legislative responses

• April 1: 279 bills related to the coronavirus pandemic had been introduced in state legislatures.

• May 1: 783 bills related to the coronavirus pandemic had been introduced in state legislatures.

• June 1: 1,599 bills related to the coronavirus pandemic have been introduced in state legislatures.

Californians to decide whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors

Californians will decide a ballot initiative on November 3 that addresses whether app-based drivers should be classified as independent contractors.

Uber, Lyft, and Doordash proposed the California App-Based Drivers Regulations Initiative in response to AB 5, which established criteria to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed AB 5  in September 2019.  The 2020 initiative would exempt app-based workers from AB 5.

The initiative would also adopt labor and wage policies specific to app-based companies, including a net earnings floor (a minimum hourly income standard), healthcare subsidies, and occupational accident insurance for workers. Examples of companies that hire app-based drivers include Uber Technologies, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, and Postmates. The ballot measure would not affect how AB 5 is applied to other types of workers.

AB 5 established a three-factor test to decide a worker's status as an independent contractor. The three-factor test requires that:

• (a) the worker is free from the hiring company's control and direction in the performance of work; 
• (b) the worker is doing work that is outside the company's usual course of business; and 
• (c) the worker is engaged in an established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed.

Tony West, the chief legal officer for Uber, and John Zimmer, president of Lyft, have both said that their companies continue to operate without reclassifying their workers as employees. 

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D), along with Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer, San Diego City Attorney Mara Elliott, and San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera, sued the rideshare companies on May 5, arguing their workers should be reclassified as employees. Uber and Postmates launched their own legal complaint, contending that AB 5 violates their constitutional rights and their workers’ constitutional rights. Courts have not yet decided either case. If the court rules before November that Uber and Lyft must consider their workers to be employees based on AB 5 alone, then the ballot initiative would likely override the court order.

Through May 17, 2020, the campaign Protect App-Based Drivers And Services, which is supporting the ballot initiative, raised $110.69 million, including $30.47 million from Lyft, Inc., $30.23 million from Uber Technologies, Inc., and $30 million from DoorDash, Inc. Instacart and Postmates, Inc. also contributed $10 million each.

The California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, organized the Coalition to Protect Riders and Drivers to campaign against the ballot initiative. The campaign raised $690,000, with the Transport Workers Union of America providing $500,000. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D) and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D) also oppose the initiative.

The ballot initiative is the sixth citizen-initiated measure to qualify for the November ballot in California. Four citizen-initiated measures are pending signature verification. At least two additional campaigns have decided against filing signatures due to the coronavirus pandemic and will instead file signatures this summer to appear on the 2022 ballot. The California State Legislature can also place measures on the ballot through June 25, 2020.

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