<![CDATA[ISBELL ARTS - Blog]]>Sun, 01 Dec 2024 15:29:07 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Art Education Matters]]>Fri, 16 Apr 2021 18:11:52 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/art-education-matters"I believe arts education is critical for young people. Already there is a pall over the school environment without a regular art curriculum especially at the elementary level. The schools, being heavy on left brain academics, bereft of joy, a sense of wonder, beauty, and most importantly creativity, are boring the student population and teacher population alike.
The emphasis is on passing academic tests in math, reading and science. There is no time or money for the arts, in fact they are considered unimportant. What is the goal of our education system? I always thought it was to educate human beings to be fully functioning, well-rounded adult members of our society. By the time a person graduates from high school they have some idea of a direction to further pursue in life.
In my opinion as a former student, as a parent, and as an educator, we are narrowing the process down, NOT encouraging creativity, and actually dumbing down our members of society without access to learning about the arts. The arts  - Creativity, Imagination, Problem Solving, a Sense of Achievement - should be the hub of the wheel of learning and education. The spokes of the wheel are science, math, reading and history and other topics that can be measured. Without the inquiring, experimental mind required of an artist, we will have random spokes difficult to use. An entire segment of industry will be short of skilled designers, inventors, visionaries, people able to visualize, draw, plan, and think creatively.
Whether it be making art, viewing, or communicating through the visual arts, the part of the mind used in the arts is being under utilized in our schools without art in the classroom. Art is not just fluff, it is an important academic subject and should be considered essential. Educating humans to think like an artist, a problem solver, a creator, is an important mission."]]><![CDATA[California - Land of Loss and Sorrow]]>Thu, 06 Aug 2020 03:02:19 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/california-land-of-loss-and-sorrowI am a fifth generation Californian and I am grieving for the devastating loss of the freedom to choose ones livelihood in what used to be a great state. California has always been a mecca for the brave, adventurous independent people of this nation and of the world! But no longer. Our legislature has voted out the freedom to be an independent self employed business person unless you are in certain specific industries . California voted to pass AB5 last year and as of January 2020 this law is destroying livelihoods for small business and sole proprietors. Due to the confusion in interpreting the convoluted language of this new law, business are not hiring independent contractors who live in California in fear of being exorbitantly fined for misclassification. Even if the person in business for themselves is on the exempt list and everyone thinks the classification is correct, they are not willing to chance it. Even out of state companies are not using gig workers in California in 2020. What a crime against humanity especially when lives are being destroyed due to the shut down of business in California due to the Covid pandemic. Now more than ever people need to be resourceful and self reliant to earn a living. Millions of jobs are gone as businesses big and small are going out of business. Having AB5 just makes matters worse.
Since the passage of AB5 once lawful independent contractors are now unable to be paid, unless someone is willing to pay them under the table, which is wrong. When someone is paid that way the state and federal government loses out on taxable income that would have been reported on a 1099, and the business paying is deprived of taking the legitimate deduction for paying for services. Once law abiding writers, musicians, artists, actors, teachers, teaching artists, tutors, translators...millions of others, are now illegal. Worse yet, even if the business that needs their services for a few hours or a few weeks does make them an official employee they would be only a part time employee not eligible for any benefits such as health care etc. Companies are notorious for limiting hours to being under full time so as to save on benefits. And even if they are somehow made a full time employee with benefits, another travesty of this law is, as an artist, musician, writer, film maker, the legal rights to any original creative work are forfeited if created as an employee instead of an independent contractor. 
This law needs to be repealed before any more damage is done. It can be revamped properly for the purpose it was intended, helping misclassified workers. Bring back freedom to California!  ]]><![CDATA[Freedom Killed in California With AB5]]>Sat, 21 Mar 2020 18:49:29 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/freedom-killed-in-california"This new law in California, AB5, in an effort to close a loophole and help some workers, is shutting down small businesses and sole proprietors of all kinds. California is stomping on the freedoms of the smallest of businesses. Their wings have been clipped, their ability to grow and prosper, to fly, is curtailed." 
​If you own a “Small Business” and if you have ever contracted with an “Independent Contractor” and paid them and reported it using a 1099, you need to know about this new law. As of Jan 1, 2020, and possibly going back 2 years, you may have inadvertently put your business at risk, and could be fined by the state of CA.
AB5 a new bill, read the actual bill here, was quietly passed in the California legislature and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2019. It went into effect at 4am. It is the day more freedom died in California. Freedom for Californians to choose our own livelihood was literally stripped away due to the side effects of this law. It received very little media attention, and what attention it did receive was skewed. It was depicted as a benign way to help the little guys, the workers, the people working as gig workers, as independent contractors, for large successful companies who were supposedly being exploited. But were they? Is having freedom and flexibility as a choice a form of exploitation? The way they were being exploited was they were being classified as “independent contractors” rather than on the payroll as official employees. Because of this classification, the big company thought they would not have to abide by California employment "protections" for employees and was exploiting them. This classification according to this new law, was wrong and they did not “pass the test “ to be independent contractors. Were they really mis-classified? Did the legal advisors for the big company get it wrong? Was the big company using some loophole or a gray area to hire people as independent contractors instead of employees? Maybe for some. The lawmakers intended to fix a loophole if there was one and tighten up the rules for classifying workers so tight, that few if any, now can meet the standards.  This was all intended to help the little guys. This was supposed to make sure the gig workers were properly classified as employees and given benefits, sick pay, vacation time. Unfortunately not everyone gets hired as a full time employee, but can be only given part time hours, therefore for them there are no benefits or vacation time or sick pay, and no freedom to choose ones own schedule like an independent contractor can. 
Due to the stringent interpretation of what constitutes an independent contractor, another freedom, the freedom to choose ones own livelihood was stripped away in California with this new law. The freedom to hire a temporary worker, a gig worker, was taken from businesses in California, in fact now even businesses in other states will not take the risk of being fined and  hire an independent contractor if they live in California. 
On that day in September 2019 a cascade of unintended consequences began, as the rug was pulled out from under the other “little guys”. The new law changed some existing language and added new tests specifically section 2750.3 to the law everyone had been using for decades. Now there is so much confusion and it makes no sense in so many instances that exemptions are needed for many professions to be able to conduct business at all. Unfortunately there are people who still do not know the law they thought they were following has been changed.
Here is the text of the new test to determine if someone can be paid as a contractor/sole proprietor or must be hired as an employee.
“Assembly Bill (AB) 5, recently signed into law, replaces the common law test with the ABC test to determine whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor in California. Effective January 1, 2020, hiring entities are required to classify workers as employees unless they meet all conditions of the ABC test:
A.The person is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of the work and in fact.
B. The person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business.
C. The person is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as that involved in the work performed.”Item B is the problem area. If a business needs a once in awhile job accomplished it now can not use someone in the same line of business, they must be “outside the usual course” of business. The hard part of this is it is up for interpretation.
It has literally made it so difficult to interpret the language of the “well-meaning “ change that legitimate companies and individuals who want to comply are afraid. Why? Because the new law has also ramped up the enforcement and there are exorbitant fines for any entity who may mistakenly pay someone as an independent contractor, even if they have consulted advice from an attorney and made a good faith effort to comply. They go to attorneys and get different interpretations. They even go directly the the EDD and are given misleading advice.
Fear and confusion paralyze small business from taking a chance of misclassifying an entity with independent status, so the gig is cancelled instead of taking the risk. Businesses large and small are very heavily fined even when there is no malice or ill intent. Even when a business owner or independent contractor tries to follow the new wording there are no safeguards!  There is chaos and confusion now. Everyone wants to do the right thing but there is no set, reliable standard. The new law has created a gray area!
Thousands of legitimate small businesses and sole proprietors are unable to be paid  now due to the fear and confusion. Even those with an exemption are being affected. This bill is so mis-written that even the authors of this law agree there should be exemptions. Since it is so impractical and goes against common sense the lawmakers admit there should be some workers and professions that are exempt and they are allowed to still offer their services and not need to be hired as employees. The list of exempt professions is large and still growing. The larger the income and more influential the type of profession the closer they are to the top of the list and they are literally written into the language of the law. Is this even constitutional? Some professions can work and others not? Once again the little guys not on the exempt list are left out.
Since very small companies cannot take the risk of being fined $5 - $25,000 per contract (independent contractor) they must either go out of business completely or get smaller and do all of the work themselves. Larger companies also won’t risk hiring anyone that may only be needed on an occasional basis, a gig, as an independent contractor either. However if they are large enough already, and can afford it, they may or may not hire the worker as an employee. Maybe that person does not want to be an employee. The reason that person was only paid as an independent contractor in the first place is because the work was not enough to be even a part-time worker, let alone full-time. Now, having to convert someone for a once in a while gig into an employee has become by default mandatory for companies. Even if under the new law it should be OK, they have an exemption, they are afraid to risk it. The rest of the really small businesses who cannot afford to pay the fees and taxes required to convert independent contractors needed are basically out of luck.
So a loophole that was closed to stop big business from exploiting the little guy workers has caused a huge problem for thousands of other little guys who are trying to honestly make a living.
That is a huge mistake by the California legislature. The mentality behind this law is that the workers need to be protected and big business needs to be controlled and stopped from taking advantage of people. In an effort to do this, little business is being shut down.

​All big companies started out as a small company. An entrepreneur or two had an idea and in good faith started a small business, that is the way most of what are now called big businesses got started. Since this country prides itself on being the land of the free and has always revered the entrepreneurial spirit and individualism, that is the way it has always been done. Other than government workers where else do jobs come from? It takes vision, courage and the willingness to risk to start one’s own business, to make it on their own. Now that is even harder in California.
At first when a company is small their workload is also small. Their need for help is small too and in order to make a profit they may not be able to afford to hire and pay full-time or even part time workers. So they get the job done with the workers who need work and have the needed skills by paying them piecemeal or as freelancers or sole proprietors or independent contractors. These service providers get paid an agreed upon fee, the work is done, the new small business sends a notice, a 1099, to the government stating how much the independent contractor was paid, he pays his taxes everyone feels it is fair.
These freelancers, and the very small businesses who use them, these brave risk takers, are literally the seeds of new business which may become a big business someday. Hopefully they will survive and someday provide jobs and enhance the economy. Without new small business constantly “springing up “ due to need and innovation, there would be less work for everyone. It is usually a need to create one's own livelihood that leads to a new small business. If one can not find a "job" there has always been the freedom to create our own. Creating our own source of income either by choice or by necessity should be a basic right. As an employee you are always at the mercy of the business owner and can lose your livelihood overnight. As a self employed entity you control your own source of income, in essence creating your own security. Now by making it harder to be classified as independent, that is being eroded away as a basic right. This new law in an effort to close a loophole and help some workers, is shutting down small businesses of all kinds. California is stomping on the smallest of businesses. Their wings have been clipped, their ability to grow and prosper, to fly, is curtailed, 

The first thing that needs to happen is all legislators need to take another look at this debacle and see it for what it is and for the destruction to lives as it is causing. Take the time to read the individual scenarios  of the real people losing their livelihoods. There is a Facebook page, Freelancers Against AB 5,  devoted to all aspects of this new law and a place to read the real stories of the small people being affected.
Stop any more bleeding and chaos by immediately rescinding AB5. Take a look at the original intent and evaluate if the previous law even needs changing. Probably not. If a new law is needed it should be well written enough that no exemptions are needed. It should require that all professions, from the attorney, doctor, translator, sign language interpreter, face painter, dog walker, real estate agent, musician, artist, yoga instructor, nurses any and all other types of professions are all treated equally. As it is now too many professions are not exempt and are at risk. They all need to be exempt! And if the one sentence of the ABC test, the B part, was removed or mended, this could all be fixed! That is where the chokehold lies!
Also there needs to be a grace period, a chance to become compliant without punitive fines, a “let’s get the bugs out year” after something like this is passed. The uncertainty and chaos caused by this law is reprehensible and cruel and unnecessary! If the California government doesn’t undo this convoluted legislation it sends a clear message. Freedom is dead in California. Small business can go ahead and shut down. The message is that everyone needs to be an employee - be under the control of a business owner. That that is the only acceptable way to make a living in California. Small businesses, single person entrepreneurs, freelancers can all either conform or die out!
What a sad day for California. The seeds of innovation, imagination, hope, individualism and the freedom to make a living are being snuffed out. California legislators please take a look! This needs to be fixed and it needs to be fixed before any more damage is done. The small businesses and independent contractors need a champion! They need a lawmaker willing to lead the way, to be brave enough to break ranks with their fellow lawmakers and be open minded enough to really take a hard look at this!
If you feel moved to do something the following is some information on writing to your representatives.


CALL TO ACTION & LETTER WRITING INSTRUCTIONS


FIRST, sign Senator Grove's petition if you haven't already. It's important to get the numbers up on this one so they know that we're more than just a few upset voices.
http://grove.cssrc.us/SupportSB806

SECOND, Make sure you are registered to vote where you live now. Sometimes we move and don't register our new address. Also the state made some errors when they transferred files over after the Motor Voter bill was passed (also an LG bill) and some of the data was lost or corrupted.
This will become even more important as our other efforts move forward!
Check your registration status and register to vote here:
https://registertovote.ca.gov/

THIRD, Write letters. These should go to 1) your legislators, and 2) authors of bills you wish to speak up about. If your legislators have written some of the proposed bills, voice your support. You can find a list of current bills in a file named "AB 5 IMPLEMENTATION Summary" in the Files section of this page. Link here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreelancersAgainstAB5/files/

It should be polite in tone and should be addressed this way:
for Assemblypersons the address should be Dear Mr./Ms. [surname]: and
for Senators the address should be Dear Senator [surname]: to begin the letter.


It should also start with a simple "I am writing you to voice my strong support (or opposition) to bill [SB806, AB1928, SB1039, etc]." Support is tracked one bill at a time, so only address one bill per letter. (More on that below.) Then a paragraph briefly summarizing your own personal situation and concerns. Try to keep the letter to one page if you can. PLEASE AVOID any mention of people and companies you have worked for in one form or another because this can make them a target of AB5’s enforcement side.

Send copies to your legislators AND the author of the bill you're writing about. You can find legislators' office addresses for the Senate and the Assembly here:
https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators?sortbydistrict=ASC
https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers?order=field_member_district&sort=asc

For more bills, just copy and paste your text from your first bill to a new letter, then change 1) the bill number, 2) your support or opposition of it, and 3) who it's addressed to and you're good to go. But if your letter has three bills on it or whatever, it will only count once.

When you are ready to mail it, address it to:
for all legislators The Honorable [first and last name] followed by the address below.
For more information, use this formal address guide:
http://www.formsofaddress.info/Representative_US_State.html

So thank you for your time in working on this. Let's make a difference!


Your Name
Your Street Address
Your City, CA ZIP


Today’s Date


Official’s Name
Official’s Office Address
Official’s City, CA ZIP




Dear Mr./Ms. [surname]:  OR  Dear Senator [surname]:


I would like to voice my strong support for [SB806, AB1928, SB1039, etc. (address only one bill per letter)].

[Briefly explain your background and circumstances and concerns in about a paragraph. Try to keep the whole letter to a single page.]


[Example prompts to get you started if you need it:
I am writing to you because….
AB5 has already cost me $XYZ this year from lost contract work due to…
My family and I have had to go on food stamps this year because…
I’ve worked as a ________ on a contract basis for ____ years, and…
My family and I need relief from AB5 because…
I am not able to be a traditional employee because….
I am struggling financially this year after AB5…
I had hoped to retire from _________ this year, but….]


Thank you for taking a moment to read my concerns and I hope you will take them into consideration when addressing legislation before you.




Sincerely,
Your Signature




Your Name]]><![CDATA[An Open Letter to my CA Representatives]]>Mon, 02 Mar 2020 15:47:37 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-my-ca-representativesI am writing to you as a long time Californian. In fact I am a fifth generation native of California and I have serious concerns. I have questions for you. 
1. Do you believe in "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" in California?
Yes or No is the only acceptable answer..
2. If you say "Yes", is it a true "Yes" or a "Yes, but"...? A "Yes, but" is essentially a "No"
If you say "Yes" I have more questions for you.
Recently, as I am sure you are aware since you voted for it, A new bill was voted on and signed into law that has resulted in a few million people being made "illegal" workers and subject to being fined with exorbitant penalties in California. The freedom to be able to be classified and therefore work as Sole Proprietors/Independent Contractors was with the stroke of a pen removed by the passage of AB5.
My question, is this what you intended when you voted for this?  Did you really intend for so many very small businesses, non-profits, community theaters, festivals, home care workers, tutors, over 250 types of work and small business, the list is long and growing, to be put out of business "Yes" or "No"?
If you answer Yes, thank you for letting me know. You have accomplished your mission, you have taken away freedom to choose how to make a living, and created the potential for more homelessness.
By giving exemptions to a select few businesses and independent contractors you have caused inequality and discrimination to be codifed into California law. Is that what you intended when you were persuaded to vote in favor of this bill? Do you really believe this is constitutional, exempting some citizens but not others? Or maybe you actually wrote this bill, is this confusion what you intended?
If not what are you going to do about it?
Do you even know what is happening and why? Here is a page to read about the carnage and loss of work for so many.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreelancersAgainstAB5/?fref=nf 

By adding the one sentence that must be satisfied in order to classify someone as an independent contractor and pay them, you have caused fear and confusion and made it nearly impossible for a bonafide and legitimate independent contractor to be contracted for work.  (B) The person performs work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business. (Also stated in other parts of the law)
Due to that one change in the way people are to be classified you have decided that it is nearly impossible to be in compliance.  
Do you believe in checks and balances, in the separation between legislation and courts? If so why have you not used your right to write your own language for a bill rather that codify a court case?  If you say "Yes", then I hope you are receptive to some ideas.
First idea: Stop explaining and defending why you voted wholeheartedly in favor, all along party lines, for a bill that had so much potential to cause such ruin. Stop sending out form letters using the court case to defend your reason for voting in favor of this. It is insulting and it makes you look ill informed. 
Second idea, Stop only voting for anything presented by your own party and voting against everything  presented by your opposing party. It is showing us voters that you have blatant disregard for us. We notice.
Third idea: Please actually read any bill, all of it, not just some summary or bullet points. That is what checks and balances are for, to foster open debate. Listen to any and all arguments about it with an open mind. It is hard for me to believe that you actually did this with AB5. If you had read it, had considered any opposing ideas, and been courageous enough to not vote along party lines, I would have more respect for you. If you had realized the ramifications you may not have voted for it, unless you truly wanted so many people to be put out of work.
Fourth idea: Now that you see how this has caused and will cause so much damage and hardship "FIX IT!"
One of the form letters I received asked for ideas.
Here are some ways to fix it:
First choice, repeal it then rewrite it. Write an emergency bill to repeal it. I think someone did that but was shut down due to being in an opposing party if I am not mistaken, but try it again if you are in the party in power .
Second choice, Initiate a hold on the fines and penalties for misclassification crimes. Stop the loss of work while you rewrite it.
How to rewrite it: . Due to one sentence in the way to classify people, the "B" part of the "ABC" companies are afraid to be the test case and are just flat out canceling contracts or stopping contracts with independent contractors even those who are supposedly "Exempt", therefore remove the B sentence as it is written and where ever it is written. If you must, replace it with language that allows bonafide independent contractors to be paid even if they are in the same line of business as long as they actually meet the other requirements which have already been in place for decades if not centuries. 
No exemptions are needed if the B is removed. Take away the unnecessary exemptions which are unfair, unconstitutional, and causing all the confusion. Clean up the language so people really know where they stand, as it is now even lawyers are confused and giving different opinions. The confusion is what is causing the loss of work!! Companies and sole proprietors want to comply but this confusion is stopping the hiring of any and all IC's. 

The party in power needs to initiate this, that is the only way any new legislation will be taken seriously in an out of balance legislature it seems. You are my representative, therefore I am appealing to you to take this on. 

​Please tell me, what are you going to do about it? 



]]><![CDATA[Is California AB5 Even Constitutional?]]>Wed, 26 Feb 2020 16:13:34 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/is-california-ab5-even-constitutionalOpen letter to the committee to repeal AB5.
​Please repeal AB 5. It is wrong on so many levels. I was talking to a friend, a fellow artist about how to stay in business now that the new law governing who can work as a sole proprietor or who can not recently was signed. We recently found out that the business model we have been operating under for decades has now been changed and now we are illegals. Due to one sentence in the new law, the "B" in the ABC test, thousands of small businesses and independent contractors are now breaking the law if they continue hiring service providers for a once in awhile "Gig". The new law AB5 says if I need help on a project and my helper happens to be in the same profession as I am, that is breaking the law. That is failing the "B" part of the new law. If I want to have help on a project the only way is to hire that occasional sole proprietor as my employee. It doesn't matter if they want to be their own boss, be an independent contractor, that freedom is now gone in CA under this new law. 
Obviously this rule is impractical. But is it even constitutional? Since the new law does not work, certain professions were given a pass, a "get out of jail free card". Those professions are able to not adhere to the ABC test and they can hire an independent contractor for occasional  work and they are not illegal. They have been given an exemption. How do some people get an exemption and others not? This is wrong. This is tyranny. This goes against "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"  at the most basic level. This is morally wrong and damaging to thousands of previously law abiding businesses, the smallest of the small. There are many exemptions and the way the law is worded is confusing. So my friend was confused as to whether her being exempt as a fine artist was really true or not. So she went straight to the horses mouth, the local worker at the EDD, the Employment Development Department, the department who is in charge of enforcing the newly created crimes. Her answer to her simple question, Am I exempt? "I have no idea".
AB-5 exempts the following industries:
  • Doctors, surgeons, dentists, podiatrists, psychologists, or veterinarians performing professional or medical services provided to or by a health care entity;
  • Lawyers, insurance brokers, architects, engineers, private investigators, or accountants;
  • Securities brokers/dealers or investment advisers and their agents and representatives that are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or the State of California;
  • Real estate agents, repossession agencies, direct-sales persons, commercial fishermen;
  • Individuals performing services under a contract with a licensed “motor club.
Professional Services Exemptions that 
shall become inoperative on January 1, 2023, unless extended by the Legislature.
AB-5 provides carve-outs for the following “professional services:” (1) marketing professional; (2) human resources professional; (3) travel agent; (4) graphic designer; (5) graphic artist; (6) fine artist; (7) freelance writer; (8) barber or cosmetologist; (9) esthetician; (10) electrologist; (11) manicurist; (12) payment processing agent; and (13) IRS licensed tax professional.
To qualify the professional service provider must:
  • Have an established business location (may be home);
  • Have any required business license or occupational license;
  • Have the ability to negotiate rates;
  • Maintain the ability to set hours outside of project completion dates;
  • Engage in the same type of contract work with other companies, or must hold themselves out to other potential customers; and
  • Exercise discretion and independent judgement in their work.
NOTE: There are additional restrictions. For instance, cosmetologists must set their own hours, set their own rates, select their clients, schedule their own appointments, process their own payments, be paid directly by their clients and keep their own book of business.
Referral Agency Exemption
AB-5 provides an exemption for businesses referring customers to providers for the following services: (1) graphic design; (2) photography; (3) tutoring; (4) event planning; (5) moving; (6) minor home repairs; (7) home cleaning; (8) errands; (9) furniture assembly; (10) animal services (11) dog walking; (12) dog grooming; (13) web design; (14) picture hanging; (15) pool cleaning; or (16) yard cleanup. If the service in question is not on this list then it does not qualify for this carve-out.
To qualify the referring agency must:
  • Be an established business entity and must customarily perform work of this nature;
  • Be “free from control and direction of the referral agency;”
  • Not be penalized for rejecting clients and contracts;
  • Be free to work with other companies and to maintain their own clientele without any restrictions from the referral agency;
  • Provide their services under their name, rather than the name of the referral agency;
  • Set their own rates (without deduction), decide their own hours and use their own tools; and
  • Have any required business or contractor’s license and business tax registration.


]]><![CDATA[HELP WANTED AD]]>Mon, 24 Feb 2020 16:38:30 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/help-wanted-adHELP WANTED
Job Title : Champion
Job Description: Cause Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) to be repealed.
Job Qualifications and Skills: Required: Ability to read and write Legalese. Law degree preferred. 
Disqualification: Willing to take payment from large organizations.
Highly Desired Skills: Champion attributes, ie; sees injustice, is a go-getter, able to multitask, able to take criticism, available for flexible hours, ability to see big picture, open minded, Influencer, (Instagram account optional), problem solver, doesn't give up.
Salary: No compensation at this time. This is a gig volunteer position which may lead to future monetary gain.
Employer: "We The People"  Especially Disenfranchised Independent Contractors 

]]><![CDATA[Loss of the American Dream in California]]>Sun, 23 Feb 2020 18:33:20 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/loss-of-the-american-dream-in-californiaI was alerted to changes in the law for small business and Independent Contractors only a week ago. I started to look into it to see what was going on. At first I thought it only affected Uber and Lyft drivers, surely not me. In fact I had basically ignored the few news stories I had seen last year when the legislation was first introduced, because I wasn't in that industry. Boy was I wrong, this totally affects me. Not only me, but thousands of other small business of all kinds that have nothing to do with the ride share industry. 

The California bill that was signed into law September 2019 is so poorly constructed creating too many gray areas that need to be interpreted. The new law states ALL workers in California are to be be classified as an employee unless they meet certain criteria. That criteria has been made so strict that essentially very few businesses and service providers can meet it. Because of that, the lawmakers wrote into the law all of the professions that can be excepted. These exemptions are up to the lawmakers as to who can work now as an independent contractor. People are now trying, begging, to be added to the list of exempt professions as hundreds are not on the list. The law should not need so many exemptions.

​Even if you are on the list your are still at risk of violating some parts of the legislation. Due to the language of this law people who have nothing to do with the reason the existing law was changed are the fallout. If you have a business that misclassifies a service provider under the new criteria and pays them for an occasional gig, they can be fined anywhere from 5K to 25K per contract. Small businesses, can't take the risk and are just opting to not hire an independent contractor. The only way to be safe is to completely change the business and hire someone as an employee. If your business is fledgling and you can not afford that your are essentially out of business. Anyone you used to pay for their service is also out of business.

Here is a scenario. A few years ago 2 friends got an idea to start a small business together. They were both "artists" (which by the way they are on the current exempt list which did not exist then). They thought, how can we create a business to bring more art to our community, provide work and a source of income for other artists, how can we provide a place to teach all different types of art to people? They brainstormed a lot and dreamed a lot. Both were independent contractors and used to entering into individual contracts with individual clients. They formed a partnership and set up a business using about 50 different "artists" to come to one location on an agreed upon time and for an agreed upon fee, and teach a class in their own way. They were not employees. Most offered their service to teach a class only on occasion, if it fit into their own schedule.. The 2 artists each also taught classes and earned income that way. The small business provided the location for the class to take place, provided the advertising, and collected the fees for each class. The individual artists teaching their own class were paid the agreed upon fee, they were issued a 1099 at the end of the year. The business only made enough to pay the cost of staying in business. The independent contractors who did the teaching were not exploited and lots of people enjoyed taking lots of different classes and learning new skills. There were school programs, after school art and summer camps for kids too. Everything benefitted everyone. So why is it now breaking the law? Who was being exploited?

Since that is supposedly what this AB5 is touted to be doing, helping, how is shutting down a business like this helping? Who is being helped? The artists who occasionally teach don't necessarily want to be employees. But let's say they were. Anything they created as an employee they could lose the rights to. The same goes for the other arts like music. Not all people should be employees, but they still have a right to earn a living. If this law was not intended to affect small businesses like this one, it needs to be rescinded. Don't fix what isn't broken as the adage says.  

Everyone with a skill or a service to offer does not need to be an employee working for a business. It is the American way! Freedom to choose your own livelihood is the hallmark of a free society. Now this small business could be at risk of being punished with large fines due to the new law and the convoluted way it is written. Even though "fine artist" is on the exempt list, the law is unclear. This small business has nothing to do with the ride share industry that was given as the reason for changing existing law. There were no workers being treated as employees yet misclassified as independent contractors and denied protections and minimum wages. They were earning more than minimum, they were happy to get the gig.

Artists of all kinds have always had a hard time finding full time employment doing what they love to do. There are a few rare companies that hire on artists, Walt Disney comes to mind. I don't know if they were paid as employees or IC's back when he first started. But even Walt Disney started small. Pretty much every business starts small. If an artist, like me, couldn't find "a real job" I always knew I could work for myself. Now with this new legislation it makes it even harder for artists to work and get paid. Is that really what the legislators intended?

Some say since the author of the bill is paid for by unions, and she was given very large contributions to her election campaign, she is motivated to have more people be employees and ultimately pay to join unions. Some people say that the government wants businesses to pay more fees to be in business. Revenues will increase this way. And 20 million dollars has been added to the new law to finance the crack down on businesses misclassifying people. The fines for a first time mistake start at 5K, more than fines for real crimes, like assault, theft or dui's.
So something that probably didn't need fixing was fixed anyway and it made life worse for thousands of people doing their own thing, not harming anyone.   

And the art business started by 2 friends? We have to wait and see if California legislators do the right thing and repeal this law.

I was telling a friend about all this and she said why? Why did they change the law? Why are they now fining people such huge fines for something that used to OK? I said that they say it is to help people to not be taken advantage of and everyone deserves a minimum wage job at the very least. But I wonder, when they see so many people that didn't need or want help,  losing their livelihood, why don't they fix it? 
. 

]]><![CDATA[CA AB5 - The Death Knell for Freedom in California]]>Sat, 22 Feb 2020 02:49:20 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/freedom-is-dead-in-california-due-to-ab5A sad day for California, AB5 was passed.]]><![CDATA[A Brand New Sparkly Website]]>Wed, 12 Jun 2019 21:29:39 GMThttp://isbellarts.com/blog/a-brand-new-sparkly-websiteBuilding a website is a feat in itself. The website software I have been using for almost 2 decades has finally been deemed obsolete.  There is always such a learning curve to this "artform" and things are always changing. Here is the newest version of Isbell Arts, basically a skeleton version. I hope to flesh it out in time with more. I am sure there are typos and blurry pictures, but I hope to gradually perfect things. I am rolling it out anyway glitches and all.
]]>