Gig-work bill passes Senate committee as crowds rally for and against it

The Senate’s Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee passed California’s groundbreaking gig-work bill, 4-1, at a hearing Wednesday. The contentious proposal, Assembly Bill 5, took center stage in Sacramento this week with hundreds of supporters and opponents rallying and testifying as the Senate committee weighed potentially turning hundreds of thousands of independent contractors in the state — such as Uber and Lyft drivers — into employees.