URGENT: CONTACT YOUR SENATOR, HOUSE SPEAKER, SENATE PRESIDENT, AND THE GOVERNOR TO SUPPORT HB4944 AND TO AMEND S678 WITH THE LANGUAGE FROM HB4944

In addition to contacting your Representative to show your support for HB 4944, please contact the Governor, your State Senator, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House to ask them to support HB4944. Please also ask them to amend S678(see below) with the language from HB 4944, as the language of S678 does not completely fix the issues that impact us.

To Contact the Governor:
Phone: 617.725.4005 or 888.870.7770 (in state)
Fax: 617.727.9725

To contact the Senate President Therese Murray:
Phone: 617-722-1500
Email: Therese.Murray@state.ma.us"

To contact the Speaker of the House Robert A. DeLeo:
Phone: 617-722-2500
Email: Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us

We have just over 24 hours to do this. Both the House and Senate will be in session tonight, tomorrow, and probably into tomorrow night- so you can call their offices and send emails urging them to do the above.

To watch them on your computer:

Senate: http://masslegislature.tv/?l=sen_video
House: http://masslegislature.tv/?l=hse_video

The following is Information on S678 amendment by Senator McGee:

On July 28th, Senator McGee amended S678 with the basic language from HB 4748 with some additions. This language, like HB 4748, falls short of fixing the unintended consequences befalling many freelancers in all disciplines. (Basically the new redraft is MCGee's Senate Budget Amendment #260). A call of the yeas and nays was ordered on the adoption of the amendment. This means they did not record how the Senators voted- who voted or how many voted for this amendment. WE HAVE NO PUBLIC RECORD ON THEIR VOTES.

The new language (and the above info is from http://www.mass.gov/legis/senate/calendar.htm SECTION[S. 678]
Bill relative to uniform wage compliance and recordkeeping (Senate, No. 678). [Question on engrossment.] [McGee.] 147I INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS
[Mr. McGee moved to amend the pending amendment (Tisei) by striking out the text and inserting in place thereof the following text:-By striking inserting before section 1 the following section:-

“SECTION 1A. Chapter 149 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 147H the following section:-

Section 147I. (a) An individual whose work is performed solely in the individual’s place of residence shall be exempt from the requirements of clause (2) of subsection
(a) of section 148B of chapter 149, but not clause (1) or clause (3) of said subsection (a) of said section 148B of said chapter 149. This section does not apply to other persons who work with or for the individual.

(b) The exception provided in paragraph (a) of this section shall not apply to an individual who has been coerced, threatened or intimidated into establishing an independent business nor shall it apply to individuals who telecommute or work remotely from home.

(c) Each individual seeking this exemption shall register with the state secretary and such registration shall be issued without a fee. The registration shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:(i) name of the individual seeking the exemption; (ii) the nature of the independently established business; (iii) the address of the residence at which the work is performed; and (iv) proof that the address listed is the applicant's legal residence.The state secretary shall issue regulations necessary to ensure registration under this section. The application for registration shall be typewritten, printed or in such other form as the state secretary shall prescribe. The application for registration shall be executed by the individual seeking the exemption. The registration shall be renewed every 3 years.”

URGENT: CALL YOUR REP. TO SUPPORT HB4944

We are in the home stretch. Call your Representative immediately to support House Bill 4944 or any other bill that incorporates the language of this bill. See the text here. See side bar for information on how to find your Representative's phone number. This Bill can come up for a vote at any time today (7/30) or tomorrow (7/31), before the end of the Legislative session. Keep checking this blog to find out when you should contact your Senator.

Next week please call Rep. Charles Murphy's office (617-722-2990) to thank him. He is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, who put out this bill and is showing his strong support.

READ THE BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL ASKING THE LEGISLATURE TO AMEND THE INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR LAW

The Boston Globe published an editorial today (Sat., July 17th) calling on the Legislature to amend the Independent Contractor law. Read the editorial here. Great job by the Globe, once again.

There is still time to get the current Independent Contractor law changed, but the Legislature has to know that this is an IMPORTANT issue. See our July 13th post regarding HB4748. There is talk of changing the HB4748 language to make it broader. Contact your Representatives and the House Ways and Means Committee immediately, so they will know how many MA residents the current law is affecting. The July 13th post gives the necessary contact information.

Action Needed on Independent Contractor Bill 4748

Although there are only a little over 2 weeks left in this year’s legislative session, there is still a chance that HB4748 to amend the Independent Contractor law (see June 21st post) will come up for discussion before the House Ways and Means committee and even make it to the floor for a vote. Several of us have been talking to various offices of this committee, and it is clear that at least some of the Reps. want to change the language to make it more encompassing. Our job is to make sure that this bill is on everyone’s radar and to explain to them whether the current bill will work for you or not. H4748 is better than the current law, but it will still severely limit people from being able to legally get work. It allows an exemption only for freelancers who work at home and there are plenty of freelancers who don’t fit this category. You can explain that there must be a bill that can be written that protects workers from being misclassified, while not preventing legitimate freelancers from making a living.

Please contact the members of the House Ways and Means Committee. Find their contact information here. If at all possible, please try to contact each member, particularly the Chairs, as well as the Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo, 617-722-2500, Robert.DeLeo@State.MA.US and as your own Representative (see sidebar for contact information). A phone call or an email will work. Doing both will have even more impact. It is important for each member to know the effect the current legislation has had on you. They will not realize the importance of this bill if they do not hear from many of us.

The bottom line is that unless this law is fixed:
Massachusetts residents are specifically being unfairly prohibited from earning a living in already tough economic times.
Massachusetts is losing out on tax revenue from these earnings.