California Assemblymembers Lorena Gonzalez and Christy Smith have requested a one-time allocation of $20 million in the 2020-21 state budget to the California Arts Council for the administration of a grants program serving small budget non-profit arts organizations that make a good faith effort to comply with AB 5. The proposal is, in part, a result of efforts by California Arts Advocates and Californians for the Arts to work with Asm. Gonzalez to mitigate the impact of AB 5, a bill she introduced, that was approved last year, and that took effect January 1, 2020. AB 5 greatly constricts the definition of "independent contractors," and was seen by many as primarily targeting "gig economy" leaders like Uber and Lyft. However, its unintended victims included nonprofit arts organizations that often engage freelance artists as contractors for limited term work. Although an exemption was carved out for "Fine artists" in the original bill, the definition of that term remains under debate. Further, labor unions representing actors and musicians, who have been seeking fair pay and benefits, saw the new rules as benefiting their members--even though there has also been widespread backlash by many of those artists who prefer to maintain independent contractor status.  More here.