Home California Senate Labor Chair Dave Cortese Issues Statement on Prop. 22 Being Ruled Unconstitutional

Senate Labor Chair Dave Cortese Issues Statement on Prop. 22 Being Ruled Unconstitutional

by ECT

State Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), chair of the California Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee issued the below statement after a California Judge today ruled Proposition 22 unconstitutional.

Proposition 22 is a California ballot initiative that passed in the November 2020 General Election that exempts app-based transportation and delivery employers from providing the employee benefits that are granted under Assembly Bill 5, including collective bargaining rights, paid sick leave, and workers compensation.

As the respective Chairs of the Labor Committee in each of the two houses in the State Legislature, Senator Cortese and Assemblymember Ash Kalra (D-San Jose) submitted the attached amicus letter to the California Supreme Court earlier this year urging them to hear a critical case that will decide whether Proposition 22 violates the Constitution of the State of California. The letter made the same argument as Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch used in today’s court finding – that Proposition 22 would usurp the authority of the Legislative and Judicial branch and deny California workers the protections inherent in the Constitution of the State of California.

Today is a win for workers,” said Senator Cortese, Chair of the Senator Labor Committee. “I’m proud to see the same argument made by myself and my colleague Assemblymember Kalra in our plea to the California Supreme Court be used in today’s ruling – that Proposition 22 would limit our ability as Legislators to provide workers the protections they are granted under the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the State of California. Thank you to all of the labor leaders who pushed to overturn this injustice.”

Senator Dave Cortese represents State Senate District 15 which encompasses most of Santa Clara County, including the cities of Campbell, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, and much of San Jose, stretching from the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and Mountain Hamilton Range to the east.

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3 comments

TSG Aug 22, 2021 - 3:36 pm

This is BS. Prop 22 was passed by the vote of the people. I got enough of politicians, judges behaving like kings ruling over the people. This is not a free country any longer.

K Aug 23, 2021 - 8:13 am

Bullshit. The nerve of this guy to think his role is to protect the people. This was the will of the people. What an arrogant doosh.

PAUL L HARFORD Aug 25, 2021 - 3:12 pm

No it’s a win for legislators who receive money from unions. Employment opportunities take on many descriptions and the ‘gig’ worker is a relatively new form of meaningful employment.

It (gig work) is not a threat to the California constitution but a freedom to choose working in a new capacity

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