Photo by Department of Labor on Flickr is licensed under CC BY 2.0: https://bit.ly/3xZe6YR
President Joe Biden has nominated Julie Su to serve as Secretary of Labor, a post that will soon be vacant with the impending departure of current Labor Secretary Marty Walsh.
Americans for Tax Reform opposes Su for Labor Secretary and encourages all Senators to reject her nomination.
Su has an extensive record of anti-freelancer, anti-independent contractor views and is more than willing to use government power to impose her radical agenda on American workers. Su was an architect of California’s Assembly Bill 5 law, which forced Golden State independent contractors to reclassify as W-2 employees. More than 90 percent of California independent contractors opposed reclassifying as W-2 employees before Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB5 into law.
ATR has compiled 676 personal testimonials from independent contractors who detail the ways that AB5 has hurt them, which you can view here.
Click here to view how Su’s AB5 is destroying the American dreams of California’s truck drivers.
As California Labor Secretary, Su was an aggressive enforcer of AB5, bragging about her willingness to crush freelancers with “investigations and audits” and confiscating “wages and taxes” to force them to reclassify as W-2 employees.
Su, who is currently serving as Deputy Labor Secretary, has a demonstrated record of mismanagement of taxpayer resources and will wage war on the nearly 60 million Americans that engage in freelance work.
Before DOL, Su worked as California Labor Secretary. Under Su’s scandal-tarred watch, California’s unemployment system paid out over $11 billion in fraudulent claims, totaling 10 percent of all benefits paid. Estimates show that a further $19 billion in claims were improperly distributed. An audit spurred by Su’s failed leadership showed that her work was a “high-risk issue” and “inefficient.”
Su will also raise your taxes. Su will likely push a national version (such as the PRO Act) of AB5 if confirmed, breaking Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on Americans making less than $400,000 per year. A study from the Tholos Foundation and Beacon Hill Institute found that 56 percent of reclassified independent contractors would pay more in tax than they do now. 96 percent of those reclassified taxpayers make less than $400,000 per year.
The Senate already rejected a flawed anti-worker nominee when they voted against David Weil last year. It is time for all Senators to stand up in defense of American workers by rejecting Julie Su in the same fashion.