To Assemblywoman González, Governor Newsom and the esteemed members of the California legislature:

We, the undersigned professional freelance theatre artists, fully support California AB5 and have no desire to be exempted.

For too long, our employers have misclassified us, denying us protections and paying meager wages. Now these same organizations are orchestrating a campaign of disinformation to convince artists working in live performance that this bill will harm them: claiming this bill will be the death of freelancing, that it will bankrupt small companies and businesses, and that we somehow cannot be "creative" while also being paid and protected as employees.

We know all these arguments to be false and that such arguments have been used to block every piece of progressive labor legislation in recent memory. We applaud Governor Newsom and the California legislature for passing this bill; we urge you not to exempt us from the many benefits it provides.