In what could be the first U.S. Supreme Court decision on AB 5, the California Trucking Association (CTA) has asked the high court to review its case to exempt interstate motor carriers, arguing federal preemption supersedes the state law, from which dozens of professions have received exemptions.
The AB 5 statute is an arbitrary patchwork that works in favor of certain industries while penalizing others, Graham H. Walker, executive director of the Independent Institute in Oakland, told the Northern California Record.
“Everybody who can has tried to get out from under this law, and that's because it's so constricting on people's ability to make a living,” Walker said. “The only people who have benefited from AB 5 are essentially organized labor and, in some cases, certain companies that find it advantageous to protect themselves against competition from, for example, the trucking industry owner-operators.”
The petition for writ of certiorari in California Trucking Association v. Rob Bonta was submitted to the high court last month.
The case is one of many industry efforts for relief from AB 5, which also includes legislative exemptions, Proposition 22, and other federal litigation. In new legal action, political canvassers have argued in a federal lawsuit that AB 5 violates their First Amendment right to free speech. AB 5, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019, is also a prominent issue in the recall.
Walker noted that because federal appellate courts have not concurred on AB 5’s ABC test, the U.S. Supreme Court may be more likely to intervene.
“Not only the fact that there's a very technical point of federal preemption law at stake here, but they've also got in their favor that the First and the Ninth circuits disagreed on this law,” Walker said.
If the motor carriers’ case isn’t successful, the impact would potentially extend to consumers.
“The prices are going to go up for products because everything depends on transport and we're already having enough problems with the so-called supply-chain issues in the United States as a result of the Covid lockdown,” Walker said. “Hopefully we won't see them because the truckers will succeed, but if they don't, that could portend a pretty big impact on the public.”
Walker noted that greater collaboration could help address who gets out from under the controversial statute.
“My argument is, if you can get a carve-out, get it, but I’m for everybody getting out from under it – if it’s harmful, it’s harmful.”
The court cases are revealing the unintended consequences of AB 5, Walker said.
“Ultimately the big question is, does the majority of voters in California agree with organized labor in California, or do they see that maybe there are some social harms being done by this law.”