1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

As your constituent, I’m writing to urge you to vote NO on the Modern Worker Empowerment Act and to encourage your colleagues to do the same. While its name sounds worker-friendly, this bill actually undermines key rights and protections for millions of Americans—especially those in Houston’s evolving labor force. The bill would adopt the narrow "common law" test for determining whether someone is an employee or independent contractor. This standard makes it easier for employers to misclassify workers and avoid providing benefits like minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, and health coverage. Far from empowering workers, this legislation strips them of core protections. It would also override stronger state laws—like those in California and Massachusetts—that offer better safeguards against misclassification. These laws were passed for a reason: to protect workers in industries where exploitation is common, including trucking, construction, and app-based delivery. The Modern Worker Empowerment Act especially hurts women, immigrants, and people of color, who are overrepresented in roles most likely to be misclassified. Rather than promoting fairness or flexibility, the bill opens the door to precarious, unstable work without accountability or recourse. Misclassification doesn't just hurt workers—it also shifts costs to taxpayers. When companies evade their obligations, workers rely on public benefits to stay afloat. True modernization means adapting protections to new forms of work, not weakening them. I respectfully urge you to stand with working people in Houston by voting NO on this bill. We need stronger protections for modern workers—not less. Thank you for your service and for considering my concerns.