UPDATE ON NEW LEGISLATION AND HEARING SCHEDULED

After some last minute activity to change the Independent Contractor law in the last Legislative session, which went down to the wire, it was not heard, in part because of the Casino bill. This year there seems to be more interest in fixing the Independent Contractor law, because the legislature knows this law needs to be fixed.

Look through this blog for a summary of what happened during the last legislative session.

This Legislative session there are 4 bills that have been proposed to fix the situation.

H01412: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H01412 (click link to see information on this bill)

S00957: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/Senate/S00957

H02784: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H02874

H02298: http://www.malegislature.gov/Bills/187/House/H02298

There are problems with each of these bills, but they will serve as a starting point for any discussion.

H01412 and S00957 are essentially the same bills. They are similar to what was defeated last session.

H02784 has some good wording, so this could be the best starting point.

H02298 is not sufficient, as it will not work for all Independent Contractors, e.g. those who need to ‘go to the place of business of the enterprise’ for whatever reason.

These bills will be heard by the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, who will give a reading on them to the Legislature. The hearing is scheduled for October 6, 10:30-1, Room 81 (NOTE that this is a change). There are several activities we should each undertake.

If possible, plan to attend the hearing. In the last session, we had a large turnout at the hearing, and we weren’t even organized. This really had an impact on the committee.

If you are comfortable, you should plan to give verbal testimony, which you should also leave with the committee as written testimony. Consider organizing yourselves into panels of 3 or 4 people, so things will move along more quickly. If you aren’t comfortable giving verbal testimony or you are not able to be at the hearing, you should send in written testimony to the committee.

You should be contacting all members of the committee, as listed below, to let them know of your concern with this issue. Contact your own State Senator and Representative as well. You can e-mail them or just make a phone call, although e-mail is probably best, if there is time.

Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development:

Chairs:
Daniel A. Wolf, Senate Chair, (Dem. Harwich): 617-722-1570, Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov
Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera, House Chair (Dem. Springfield): 617-722-2014, Cheryl.Coakley-Rivera@mahouse.gov
Michael J. Rodrigues Senate Vice Chair (Dem., Westport): 617-722-1114, Michael.Rodrigues@masenate.gov
Lori A. Ehrlich, House Vice Chair (Dem. Marblehead): 617-722-2014, Lori.Ehrlich@mahouse.gov

Senate Members:
Barry R. Finegold, (Dem. Andover): 617-722-1612, Barry.Finegold@MASenate.gov
Michael F. Rush, (Dem. West Roxbury): 617-722-1348 , Mike.Rush@masenate.gov
Sal N. DiDomenico, (Dem. Everett): 617-722-1650, Sal.DiDomenico@masenate.gov
Robert L. Hedlund (Rep. Weymouth): 617-722-1646, Robert.Hedlund@masenate.gov

House Members:
John H. Rogers (Dem. Norwood): 617-722-2092, John.Rogers@mahouse.gov
John P. Fresolo (Dem. Worcester): 617-722-2240, John.Fresolo@mahouse.gov
Linda Dean Campbell, (Dem. Methuen): 617-722-2877,
Linda.DeanCampbell@mahouse.gov
Denise Andrews (Dem. Orange): 617-722-2460, Denise.Andrews@mahouse.gov
Ryan C. Fattman (Rep. Sutton): 617-722-2460, Ryan.Fattman@mahouse.gov
Demetrius J. Atsalis (Dem. Barnstable): 617-722-2080, Demetrius.Atsalis@mahouse.gov
David M. Torrisi (Dem. North Andover): 617-722-2396, David.Torrisi@mahouse.gov
James Arciero (Dem. Westford): 617-722-2320, James.Arciero@mahouse.gov
Shelia C. Harrington, (Rep. Groton): 617-722-2305, sheila.harrington@mahouse.gov
Of the 17 committee members listed above, only 5 were on the committee last session, namely Senator Hedlund and Representatives Coakley-Rivera, Rogers, Fresola, and Arciero. As a result, we need the committee to learn about how this law has affected us.

To find your own Representative or Senator go to:
http://www.malegislature.gov/People/Search
Enter your address to find the name of your Rep. and Senator. Click on their names to get their contact information. Some of these legislators might be new as well.

Also consider writing letters to the Editor of your local newspapers or trying to have a story written on this issue and how it has affected you specifically. We had some great press on this last year (as noted in this blog), which was a help.

We will keep you posted as we hear more about this issue.

By the way, if you haven’t already signed our Petition at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fix-the-massachusetts-freelancer-law/, please go to this site and sign it.