California Voters Chose Uber Over Employment Law—What it Means for the U.S.

"Californians decisively determined the future of ride-hailing and delivery apps, as 58 percent voted that drivers should be classified as independent contractors, rather than employees," report Faiz Siddiqui and Nitasha Tiku.

"The state ballot measure, Proposition 22, will make drivers independent contractors according to California law," explains the article. "That supersedes a new law, known as A.B. 5, intended to grant drivers full employment, including minimum wage protections, health care and such benefits as unemployment and sick leave."

"Gig economy" companies like Uber and Lyft spent a total of $200 million on Prop. 22—setting a record for election spending on ballot propositions in the state and raising numerous allegations of untruthful campaigning in the process, as documented in the article.

Whatever money these companies spent, and public good will they burned in the process, might come to be just an investment toward similar laws to be replicated around the country, according to the article. A surprising ally in that effort is identified fairly far down in the feature-length article: Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation and former Mayor of Charlotte Anthony Foxx, who is now Lyft's chief policy officer.

"I think Prop 22 has now created a structure for us to discuss with leaders in other states and Washington, potentially,”" Foxx is quote as saying in the article. "We think that prop 22 has now created a model that can be replicated and can be scaled."

In a separate article on the same Subject, Camille Squires digs further into the potential for "gig economy" companies to spread the model presented by Prop. 22 to other parts of the country. An article by Jeremy B. White includes soundbites from Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi echoing the words of former Secretary Foxx, as well.

And, in the bleak days of uncertainty following the election, Proposition 22 was one source of satirical ire from fake news site The Onion, which headlined a totally fictional, made up article on the subject thusly: "Passed California Ballot Measure Allows Uber, Lyft To Categorize Workers As Car Parts."