Home » Santa Clarita News » Politics » Senator Scott Wilk Introduces Bills To Aid Freelance Journalists

Senator Scott Wilk Introduces Bills To Aid Freelance Journalists

Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, announced dual bills to aid freelance journalists and newspaper columnists in the wake of Assembly Bill (AB) 5, officials said. 

The author of AB 5, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, says the law restores employment status for millions of workers, which included both freelancers that work for Uber, but also freelance journalists, who have been misclassified as contractors.

Senate Bill 867 permanently exempts newspaper distributors and carriers from AB 5. If this bill was not added, it would “lead to the closing of many local papers by saddling them with additional costs they cannot afford,” according to Wilk’s office. 

Senate Bill 868 exempts freelance journalists from AB5, which originally bound journalists to only selling 35 stories a year. Freelancers can be paid as low as $25 per story, and limiting them to 35 times a year offers a large problem for them, according to officials.  

Another issue brought up by AB 5 is that businesses outside of California may not want to use California freelancers, because they can only “work” 35 times in a year. 

The law sites that workers are considered employees of a business unless they follow the criteria decided in a California Supreme Court ruling. The three “ABC’s” of the law are as follows: 

  1. The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
  2. The person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business.
  3. The person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.

“I am committed to finding a way for Californians to continue working in the way that works for them. Last year the Governor and majority party left many industries and professions scrambling to survive when Assembly Bill 5 was passed and signed into law – including newspapers and freelance journalists,” Wilk said. 

Adding the two proposed bills is “taking a first step in fixing the new law’s many flaws by helping California’s newspapers and journalists continue in their traditional way of doing business,” according to Wilk, and hopefully passing these two bills would ultimately help people whose way of life has been affected by AB 5. 


Sponsored Articles


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or send an email to newstip@hometownstation.com. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox. Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 - Santa Clarita News - Santa Clarita Radio

Senator Scott Wilk Introduces Bills To Aid Freelance Journalists

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Jamie Araki

Jamie is a photographer and journalist from Los Angeles, CA. She specializes in breaking news photojournalism, large event coverage and off-road sports photography. Jamie has been official media at events like King of the Hammers, LA Pride Parade and LA Comic Con. Jamie has been published multiple times, both in the US and in New Zealand.