User:PWR2Rideshare/2020 California Proposition 22

Wage effects
Studies conducted following the passage of Proposition 22 have found varying effects on the wages earned by rideshare drivers. A study conducted by PolicyLink and Rideshare Drivers United found that drivers earned a median hourly wage of $26.30 under Proposition 22. However, when accounting for drivers’ business expenses, the study found that the effective hourly wage was $6.20. A separate study conducted by the UC Berkeley Labor Center has found that drivers are only guaranteed an effective hourly wage of $5.64 under Prop 22. Rideshare companies have disagreed with the findings of these studies, instead claiming that Prop 22 has boosted wages. Based on an analysis of its internal data, Uber reports that drivers have received an hourly wage of $30 under Proposition 22.

Impact outside California
Proposition 22 passing has led rideshare companies to pursue legislation and ballot measures about classifying drivers in other states. In Massachusetts, Uber and Lyft led a bid to introduce a ballot measure that would expand drivers’ rights and maintain their status as independent contractors. The initiative was later blocked from reaching the ballot by the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in June of 2022. Rideshare companies have also increased lobbying efforts in Washington, DC to keep drivers as independent contractors at the federal level.

Litigation
A lawsuit was filed against the state in January 2021 by the Service Employees International Union over the successful passage of Proposition 22. The lawsuit states that Proposition 22 violates the Constitution of California, as it interferes with workers' access to the state's workers' compensation program and that it "limits the power of elected officials to govern".

On August 20, 2021, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled Proposition 22 unconstitutional because it was not limited to a single subject and because it included a seven-eighths requirement for the legislature to be able to change the initiative which infringed on the legislature's power to set workplace standards. He thereby ruled the entire ballot measure unenforceable. However, the initiative will stay in force while interest groups representing mobile application-based service platforms appeal the ruling.

On March 13, 2023, a three judge panel of the California Courts of Appeal (First Appellate District) reversed the lower district court's judgement of 2021, finding that of the three arguments presented, none of them violated the California Constitution. The court stated that Proposition 22 did not violate the Legislature's ability to enact laws (in combination with a voter initiative), did not violate the requirement that an initiative cover "a single subject", and did not violate the Constitutional separation of powers. The court did sever the proposition's requirement that a seven-eights majority of the legislature was necessary to make changes to worker's options for collective bargaining.