Make your voice be heard

Editor: On Jan. 28 I attended a rally at the state Capitol where I listened to various speakers for one hour who told how AB5 impacted them. Truck drivers, Uber drivers, writers — all recounted similar stories. AB5 took away their livelihoods by preventing them from working part time as independent contractors.

AB5 insists that all workers be employed as wage earners, not as independent contractors. Legislators thought that anyone who did not receive regular wages and have medical coverage was being cheated by a system that let them work part time. However, those impacted by this law had a different story. Some aspect of their lives led them to choose to work independently as part-time employees.

The question is this: how can representatives presume to know more about individuals than the individuals themselves? Secondly, why have these individuals no voice in representative government?

The answer to both questions is lack of representation. Assembly members represent 500,000 people each. They cannot begin to know what impacts individuals. Instead, they only know what impacts large groups such as members of unions and other special interest groups.

Individuals, to have any voice in government, need representatives who know them personally, an impossibility when legislators represent 500,000 constituents.

Make your vote count by knowing your representative. BRENDA WATKINS

Lodi