(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill on Friday that would have allowed gig workers such as Uber, Lyft and DoorDash drivers to have portable benefits plans.
Evers said he is open to allowing portable benefits for drivers but the solution must clearly benefit workers.
“I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to the bill’s definition of independent contractor status in the absence of any guaranteed benefit for workers,” Evers wrote. “App-based drivers are a growing segment of Wisconsin’s workforce and changes to independent contractor definitions are a serious endeavor— one that demands substantive conversations among several parties, including with both management and workers, in order to achieve an appropriate and balanced policy that all sides can support.”
The bill would have allowed gig workers to create portable benefits options such as health care and retirement accounts, though some groups including the Wisconsin AFL-CIO organized protests of it passing, saying they are concerned the bill would strip app-based transportation and delivery drivers of employee status and reclassify drivers as independent contractors.
Sen. Julian Bradley, R-New Berlin, and Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, sent a joint statement slamming Evers’ veto.
The two said the portable benefits would have applied to more than 100,000 Wisconsinites.
“Governor Evers just told over 100,000 Wisconsinites that they don’t matter,” Bradley said in a statement. “This veto blocks working parents, students, retirees, and entrepreneurs from building additional financial security – all because the Governor refuses to accept that work in the 21st century doesn’t look like it did when he was young.”
The pair said that 88% of drivers choose the work specifically for the freedom and independence.
“Governor Evers talks a lot about helping working families, but when it came time to act, he caved to outdated special interest politics,” Dallman said in a statement. “He vetoed innovation, he vetoed independence, and he vetoed hope for thousands of Wisconsinites who just want a fair shot.”
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DoorDash said in a statement that pilot programs in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Georgia show that the portable benefits plans work.
“Dashers have spoken out for years overwhelmingly in favor of this bill, writing to their legislators and testifying before the legislature,” DoorDash said in a statement. “What they have asked for is simple and fair: access to benefits without sacrificing their independence. What they don’t need is more closed-door conversations or dialogue from groups who don’t speak for or represent them.”