Bill to protect newspaper industry headed to Gov. Newsom

SACRAMENTO – Legislation that may help hold down the costs of newspaper delivery is on its way to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Authored by Assemblyman Ash Kalra, D-San Jose, AB 1506 would exempt newspaper carriers from the requirements of AB 5, which would require carriers to be treated as employees rather than independent contractors. It gives the newspaper industry an additional three years to adjust to the financial impact of the pandemic and the ongoing transformation to digital news delivery. The bill was passed out of the Legislature on Friday.

“AB 1506, which temporarily extends the newspaper carrier exemption from the employment test in Assembly Bill 5, passed the Legislature today as a result of thoughtful and extensive conversations with the industry and stakeholders,” Kalra said in a statement to this news organization.

“The measure recognizes the important role that newspapers play in educating and informing our communities about critical issues but also includes key reporting requirements to add a level of oversight necessary to promote compliance with state labor law,” he added.

The governor signed AB 5 into law two years ago. The legislation created a new test for determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor and reclassified thousands of contract newspaper carriers — as well as workers in other industries — as employees covered by labor laws.

News organizations including the Bay Area News Group have expressed concerns that AB 5 would drive up the cost of newspaper deliveries or lead some newspapers to deliver their paper by mail, reduce delivery routes or eliminate their print product altogether. Readers, as a result, would have less access to news, the organizations say.

A last-minute, one-year exemption for carriers to AB 5 was provided in 2019. The exemption was extended by another year in 2020 and is set to sunset on Jan. 1, 2022, unless the governor signs AB 1506.