New Jersey Senate Republicans

09/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/30/2026 11:24

Bucco, DiMaio to Sherrill: Stop the contractor rule before it hits New Jersey workers tomorrow

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Bucco, DiMaio to Sherrill: Stop the contractor rule before it hits New Jersey workers tomorrow

Anthony M. Bucco Posted on September 30, 2026

Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco and Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio are calling on Gov. Mikie Sherrill to delay her administration's new independent contractor rule until July 1, 2027, one day before it is set to take effect.

In a letter to the governor, the two leaders warned that the Department of Labor and Workforce Development's rewrite of the state's ABC test would take effect Thursday with workers and businesses still in the dark about how it will affect them. They said a policy this consequential belongs in the Legislature, not in the hands of unelected regulators.

"In practical terms, the Legislature was given a matter of weeks, not four months, to consider the implications of an economy-wide regulation affecting independent workers and businesses across virtually every sector of New Jersey's economy," Bucco and DiMaio wrote. "That was not enough time."

"A policy this consequential should be decided through the legislative process, not administrative rulemaking," the leaders wrote, noting that lawmakers previously considered legislation on independent contractor classification and did not enact it.

"An administrative regulation should not substitute for a legislative consensus that was never reached," they wrote.

The leaders also cited the more than 9,500 public comments submitted during rulemaking, more than 99% of them opposed.

"Whatever one's position on the underlying policy, opposition on that scale should warrant greater scrutiny before an economy-wide regulation becomes operative," they wrote.

The department adopted the regulations May 5 and delayed their operative date 120 days to allow time for legislative changes. None have been enacted. Instead, lawmakers are now weighing a growing list of bills to carve out individual professions, including sports officials, financial advisers, golf caddies and roadside assistance drivers.

"That should tell us something," the leaders wrote. "We should not be forced into a last-minute race to determine which occupations receive special treatment before a sweeping regulation takes effect."

The call for a delay is bipartisan. Senate President Nicholas Scutari asked Sherrill in an August letter to push the date to July 1, 2027, saying the time initially provided was too short for the review needed. Business groups, including the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce, have made the same request.

The Republican leaders also pointed to the state's weak economy. New Jersey has lost roughly 21,000 payroll jobs in July alone, according to federal data.

"This is not the time to introduce additional uncertainty that could cause businesses to reduce opportunities for contractors, move work elsewhere or avoid otherwise legitimate working relationships," Bucco and DiMaio wrote.

Bucco and DiMaio asked the administration to use the nine months to convene a working group of workers, organized labor, independent contractors, small businesses, employers and nonprofits, and to let the Legislature address the issue comprehensively rather than one exemption at a time.

"Tomorrow should not become an arbitrary deadline for getting this right," they wrote. "A nine-month delay is reasonable. It has bipartisan support."

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New Jersey Senate Republicans published this content on September 30, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 30, 2026 at 17:24 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]