This is an Atlas Shrugged moment, if I’ve ever seen one. I know Uber and Lyft would not do it because they are public companies and other reasons. Yet, it is my opinion, that they should. They should fire everyone in CA.
Why?
Because this is preposterous.
These companies started with the premise that people could sign-up to monetize free time by driving others using their vehicles. That was the deal, the contract, if you will.
Nobody forced drivers or passengers to participate in any way.
The system was the very embodiment of freedom: You do as you want, when you want, if you want to. And you can also stop and not do it if it does not deliver value. This applied both to driver and passenger.
This move represents the use of force on the part of government to unjustly interfere with the free market. It’s the continuation of a slippery slope in CA that will eventually cause this State’s politics to become indistinguishable from that of a third world country.
This is also wrong because, as far as I know, it is the first time government uses force (because that’s what laws are) to materially change the business model of public companies.
Uber and Lyft should fire everyone in CA immediately. That’s the only power they have. If they don’t move to force a repeal these politicians are going to mess with them until the end of time. If you have ever had the “pleasure” of dealing with the State Board of Equalization you know precisely what I mean. It’s hard to believe, but, yes, they are worse than the DMV.
This might also mean that, by extension, it will be dicey to hire anyone in CA for gigs. Be it a graphic designer or coder, if the potential exists for trouble people will simply hire out of state out of the country.
As Ross Perot famously said, paraphrasing...that huge sucking sound you hear are jobs leaving CA, if not the country.
For Uber and Lyft it might mean accelerating their transition to robot cars in order to get rid of people as soon as possible.