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^{Dateline: June 9, 2009, CFICF E-Newsletter}

Be sure to read the latest CFICF e-newsletter, “‘Small Business Owners Beware” (full copy is below). If you’re not already signed up to receive these communications, then sign up today.

Dear Independent Contractor,

As an independent contractor, you realize just how important you are to the small businesses that rely on you. And if you are a small business owner, you know how important independent contracting is to keeping your business alive and well.

When the economic outlook is uncertain, small businesses often rely heavily on independent contractors who are able to offer the much-needed flexibility for the ups and downs of our economy. However, a proposed new law expected to be introduced later this year in Washington threatens this. The Independent Contractor Proper Classification Act (“ICPCA”) would force companies to convert their independent contractors to employees.

Big changes in labor policy, such as the ICPCA, are threatening the very things that helped make America the land of opportunity – small businesses and a free market economy. The statistics below show the irony of this situation:

• As the economic downturn worsened, the use of independent contractors has increased to an all time high, according to a recent contractor index by SurePayroll Inc., an online small business payroll service.
• According to SurePayroll Inc., the down economy is bringing out the entrepreneurship in American workers who are choosing to become independent contractors, not employees, so that they can run their own businesses.
• The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 90 percent of independent contractors say they prefer being just that… independent contractors, not employees.

You may think these facts alone would be enough to save our small businesses and put a halt to the ICPC Act, but it’s NOT. In the face of facts like these, several states have recently passed similar legislation, several more are considering such laws now… and the bill remains a threat at the federal level. These proposed laws threaten small businesses, as well as the general economic recovery. Independent Contractors and the companies that use them can do something about that. We are 10 million strong. If we come together as one voice, government will pay attention.

We can come together at http://www.cficf.org. And please, urge your friends and colleagues to sign up at http://www.cficf.org/join-us.

Sincerely,
David Dunnigan
Executive Director
Coalition for Independent Contractor Freedom

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