Three northern New Jersey legislators have added their names to the growing list of legislators, industry leaders, small business owners and independent contractors who are asking Gov. Mikie Sherrill to delay the scheduled Oct. 1 implementation of the state’s revised ABC test.
NJBIA has been leading a grassroots campaign to stop the implementation of the controversial rule by asking freelancer workers, businesses that use them and consumers who benefit from them to urge the Sherrill administration to delay the rule set to go into effect in 14 days.
Senator Parker Space, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (R-24), have sent a letter to the governor asking her to withdraw or at least delay the effective date of the regulation until July 1, 2027.
Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22) has also formally requested the Sherrill administration to pause the rule. Dozens of legislators, both Democrat and Republican, have also publicly stated their opposition to the rule.
Space, Fantasia and Inganamort said that since the Department of Labor & Workforce Development adopted the rule in May, they have continued to hear from independent contractors who are concerned about how the change will impact their livelihoods.
“These concerns are not hypothetical. They were raised before the rule was adopted; they were largely dismissed; and they have not gone away,” the letter said.
“Our position remains that these changes should be withdrawn. At an absolute minimum, however, implementation should be delayed,” the letter said. “Moving forward while lawmakers, employers and independent contractors are actively warning of the consequences would knowingly place stress on an already fragile state economy.”
Meanwhile, NJBIA Policy Analyst Jack Kelly testified Thursday on legislation (A-1511/S-2782) that would carve out exemptions from the independent contractor rule for certain regulated professionals who have traditionally operated as independent contractors. This includes licensed insurance producers, securities professionals, certain drayage operators, and individuals who already qualify for exemptions under state unemployment compensation law.
Kelly said NJBIA supports the legislation, but the carve-out bills raise a broader question about why those exemptions are now necessary in the first place—and whether the revised ABC test is appropriately distinguishing legitimate independent work from employment.
“If the ABC test is broad enough to encompass relationships the Legislature has determined warrant different treatment, and those exemptions must now be expressly extended as the same test is applied across other employment laws, the question becomes whether the Legislature should continue addressing these issues through individual exemptions—or examine the underlying test itself,” Kelly said in his written testimony to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.
“That is why NJBIA believes the appropriate response is not to race against the Oct. 1 deadline attempting to identify every affected profession,” Kelly said. “Instead, the Legislature should have sufficient time to examine why so many legitimate independent-contractor relationships require protection from the ABC test in the first place.”
Kelly said the Oct. 1 operative date should be delayed until July 1, 2027, and a balanced task force should be established to comprehensively examine New Jersey’s approach to independent contractor classification.
“This would give the Legislature nine months to hear directly from affected workers and industries, examine modern independent-contractor relationships, and develop a durable statutory framework,” Kelly said.
The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee and the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to release A-1511/S-2782 and advance it to the full Assembly.
