The Assembly today approved with bipartisan support a bill to create portable benefit accounts for contract employees of companies like DoorDash and Uber, despite some Dems’ concerns it wouldn’t do enough to protect those workers’ rights.
AB 269 passed 56-36 in the Assembly, with four Democrats joining Republicans in support. The bill, now headed to the Senate, aims to give gig industry workers, including delivery and personal transportation drivers, access to benefits including health insurance, retirement savings, dental and vision insurance, replacement of lost income, and occupational accident insurance.
Wisconsin AFL-CIO opposes the bill, noting it stipulates app-based workers would not be considered employees.
Co-author Rep. Alex Dallman, R-Markesan, said “no matter what you hear from some members across the aisle, this is a totally pro-worker bill.”
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“It allows workers to make their voluntary choices on what they feel is best for them, with their work, with their benefits. Again, a voluntary choice from the worker to participate in … a benefit portal program,” Dallman said.
He said if businesses don’t want to provide a benefit portal, independent contractors don’t have to work for them. He said most drivers want to be able to have independent contractor status.
Rep. Angelina Cruz, D-Racine, argued corporate stakeholders are behind the bill, not workers. She called the proposal “a corporate giveaway dressed up as reform.”
“It’s a repackaging of old tricks from companies that have built million-dollar empires on the backs of workers and now want to cement into law the right to misclassify those workers to avoid paying them, providing basic protections or offering the security every working person deserves,” Cruz said.
Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, was one of the Democrats who voted to pass the bill. She said she heard “countless testimonies” from drivers who wanted the flexibility to work as independent contractors and the legislation would make that happen.
“I want to say that this bill offers portable benefits that right now don’t exist, and won’t exist if we don’t pass this bill,” she said.
The other Dems who voted in favor were Rep. Jill Billings, D-La Crosse, Rep. Russell Goodwin, D-Milwaukee, and Rep. Lisa Subeck, D-Madison.
The chamber also approved by voice vote a new certification for advanced practice registered nurses, sending it to the Senate for action. Lawmakers from both parties praised the legislation, noting struggles in past sessions to get it over the finish line.
Rep. Lisa Subeck said there are real challenges with staffing in the medical system.
“And this bill that would allow our … advanced practice nurses to practice to the top of their scope is one piece of that solution,” the Madison Dem said.
Under AB 257, APRNs, with the exception of certified nurse-midwives, would be required to work in collaboration with a physician or dentist.
The requirement would be waived for those who have completed 3,840 hours of professional nursing in a clinical setting and 3,840 clinical hours of APRN practice in their recognized role while working with a physician or dentist. The bill also allows APRNs to issue prescriptions.
Dem Gov. Tony Evers has vetoed similar versions of the bill the last two sessions. But the latest version has concessions that moved the Wisconsin Medical Society to being neutral on the legislation.
