New California law threatens to kill the gig economy

California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law a bill that will make all independent contractors in the state, mainly drivers for ride-share companies like Uber and Lyft, into statutory employees.

This means that as of January 1, 2020, in exchange for much of the flexibility that gig workers enjoy, all ride-share drivers will be eligible for benefits including minimum wage, workers’ compensation, overtime pay, unemployment, and paid sick leave.

This might sound like a good thing, but as Tim Snowball points out, the data say otherwise: Everyone will be worse off.

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Taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to fund unions’ political speech

In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Local 31 that forcing public sector workers to pay union dues in order to keep their jobs violates those workers’ First Amendment rights. The government can’t force government workers to pay for the unions’ activities or speech—all of which are inherently political.

But what about taxpayers? Can the government force taxpayers to pay the salaries of union leaders who develop and implement those political activities or their speech? Deborah La Fetra tells us how a court in New Jersey just ruled…it can’t.

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The Hill: Federal waters rule repeal: Much ado about (almost) nothing

This month, Environmental Protection Agency head Andrew Wheeler rescinded the infamous Waters of the United States (WOTUS) regulation, a rule that’s a case study in EPA regulatory overreach.

The repeal was met with great fanfare in many business quarters, and with great alarm by environmentalists. You would think that something momentous had happened.

In his op-ed for The Hill, Tony Francois explains why, despite the clamor, the repeal actually was not that big a deal—and not in a good way.

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