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

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.”