Today, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is hearing legislation, including Chairman Bill Cassidy’s Unlocking Benefits for Independent Workers Act, which would help take a big step toward clearing the way for states to test new programs that give independent workers like Dashers access to essential benefits.
“Outdated federal law is blocking common sense reform and keeping millions of Americans from getting benefits they deserve,” said Max Rettig, Vice President, Head of Global Public Policy at DoorDash. “We’re seeing more and more lawmakers — from all across the country and at all levels of government — reject the false choice between job security and flexibility. Workers can and should have both. Senator Cassidy’s bill recognizes that so much innovation happens at the state level, and would encourage states to be bold and lead on this critical reform.”
We support flexible portable benefits frameworks that protect Dasher independence while helping them get access to critical benefits, from health, vision, and dental insurance to retirement savings or emergency funds. This bill would make it easier for states to establish their own portable benefits policies that can strengthen and improve independent work.
So far, we’ve partnered with leaders in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Maryland to launch first-of-their-kind pilots to test portable benefits programs for Dashers. These pilots have shown real promise and have strong bipartisan support. Additionally, lawmakers in Wisconsin recently sent a bipartisan bill to the governor’s desk that would create a first-of-its-kind statewide portable benefits program for app-based workers, like Dashers. But outdated federal laws make it unnecessarily difficult for companies and states to explore providing portable benefits to even more independent workers.
Senator Cassidy’s bill would remove some of the legal roadblocks that discourage innovation, enabling companies and states to design programs that actually make sense for independent workers. This bill follows bipartisan legislation introduced last Congress by Senator Mark Warner.
The continued interest from pragmatic lawmakers shows that portable benefits are a meaningful solution to a problem of outdated policy. We look forward to working with policymakers to make them a reality for millions of Dashers.
