Bill Cassidy: Independent Contractors Should Not Be Unable To Contribute To A 401K

Forbes Breaking News

At a Senate Health Committee hearing before the Congressional recess, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) called to extend employment benefits to eligible independent contractors.

Transcript

00:00The American workforce looks much different than it did ten or even five years ago,

00:08let alone a hundred years ago when some of our labor and employment laws were

00:12first enacted. There are now more than 27 million Americans working as

00:16independent contractors, having the flexibility to make their own schedule

00:20to decide when, where, and how they want to work. More and more I'm hearing from

00:25people back home and they want jobs that offer this type of freedom. Just one

00:30example I love to share. I got picked up by Uber or Lyft at the New Orleans

00:35Airport and the guy just moved from San Francisco to New Orleans. Two great

00:40cities but obviously he chose the best of the two and he just wanted to do it and

00:44so he calls up Lyft and says I'm moving to New Orleans. He shows up and then goes

00:49immediately to work. Because he worked independently he had that freedom to

00:53move place to place without losing a source of income. And then another guy

00:58he's a dadgum chemical engineer and he says he'd rather be a Lyft driver and he

01:03goes I'm tired of the cubicle. He goes I got this car I take the car fishing on the

01:07day off I can take my day off anytime I want to take a day off and but he stays

01:11with his chemical engineering job because he wants the benefits but he'd rather

01:18have the freedom and the benefits. Now I get that people need a 401k they need

01:26health insurance. So whether it's a hair stylist, musician, artist, in my state a

01:31swamp tour guide, a ride share driver, software designer, independent truck

01:35driver, none of them should have to choose between a flexible work schedule and

01:39having a 401k or health coverage. So Congress, we, should modernize labor laws to

01:44catch up on the 21st century and meet the needs of today's workers. Now our labor

01:49laws are about a hundred years old and that prevents the independent worker from

01:54receiving the benefits that they would have if they choose to be a flexible

02:01independent worker. Now we've heard from companies that want to give benefits to

02:06contractors but they don't because of fear of misclassification lawsuits. So last

02:11week I joined Republican colleagues Senators Paul and Scott in releasing a legislative

02:16package modernizing federal law giving power back to the workers. This pro-worker package

02:22establishes a safe harbor so that a worker can keep his or her independent status while

02:28unliking benefits for themselves and their families. It strengthens workers flexibility.

02:33It makes it clear what legally constitutes an independent contractor. The package also increases workers'

02:39access to health care and retirement accounts like solo 401ks that are already available under

02:45federal law. I appreciate Senator Paul and Tim Scott for their leadership. And by the way,

02:50this is not partisan. States with Democratic governors like Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Wisconsin, red

02:56states like Georgia, Utah, and Tennessee, all working on pilot programs or legislation supporting portable benefits.

03:04And while these concepts are being vetted in laboratories of democracies, outdated federal law

03:10still brings the threat of lawsuits preventing workers nationwide from accessing benefits.

03:15It's time we establish consistency and clarity for every worker so that those who wish to be independent contractors

03:22can not only have the flexibility and independence but also the financial security. So I urge all of us, Democrat-Republican,

03:29to work together to achieve this goal, just as Democrats and Republicans on the state level are doing the same thing.

03:36I thank the witnesses for being here. Thank you all for representing your position. And I look forward to our discussion

03:42on how we can empower workers to succeed.

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