If you have ever used Uber or Lyft, booked a cleaning service through Handy, or ordered food from Door Dash or Instacart then you, like many Coloradans, have participated in the “gig economy.” Studies estimate that more than 10 million workers are employed in this sector and act as independent contractors – a number that is expected to continue growing.

As the gig economy expands, however, economists are unsure about the long-term effects on our financial, consumer, and labor markets. The rapid growth of this industry makes it all the more critical that lawmakers advocate for thoughtful public policies that will help us avoid unintended consequences.

Senate Bill 171, The Marketplace Contractor Workers’ Compensation Unemployment Act, was brought forward during the recent session by the Handy Corporation. While it failed to pass in Colorado’s House, the bill would have modified standards by which workers are classified as independent contractors under state and local laws.  In so doing, it would have created yet another category of workers who are not considered employees for the purposes of unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation.

As independent contractors, most workers don’t have access to things like vacation or sick days, retirement, health insurance, or anti-discrimination protections. Under SB 171, workers also wouldn’t have had the full freedom provided to traditional independent contractors like setting their own rates or their work location. Workers could also be easily terminated by the online platform they work for. SB 171 skewed heavily  toward the advantage of large corporations by placing the burden of demonstrating employment solely on the worker.

This bill wasn’t just bad for those working in Colorado’s gig economy – it was bad for Colorado businesses.  While it’s estimated that around 30 percent of employers’ costs are related to employee expenses, online platforms incur just a fraction of those costs. Under the bill, only companies that are 100-percent online could meet the proposed standard to classify workers as non-employees. A Colorado-based small business that wants to experiment with an online platform couldn’t meet this standard unless it stopped doing any and all business via phone or in person.

The Handy Corporation characterized this measure as a small, technical change, but the effects would have been wide ranging. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment estimated the legislation would have reclassified 5 percent of 2.25 million private employees or 112,500 Coloradans.

The fiscal note also indicated this bill could cost the state $22.6 million per year in lost revenue to unemployment insurance accounts by removing workers from the workers’ compensation system. This comes at the same time that our unemployment insurance fund could easily slip back into insolvency.

We should embrace innovation and technological advancements that help drive our economy forward. But we shouldn’t do it at the behest of an out-of-state company and at the expense of the hardworking Coloradans who make these services possible.

The gig economy shows no signs of slowing down, and that’s a great thing for a state like Colorado that’s No. 4 in the country for start-ups. To keep up with this growth we need to advance solutions that benefit the state’s consumers and workers alike, not one-size-fits-all legislation crafted by one side of the equation.

As we look toward 2019, we now have an excellent opportunity for a bigger discussion in Colorado on how to get the balance right. The future of our workforce will require a collaborative, grassroots conversation that brings employers, workers and communities together to develop meaningful policy that creates opportunity for all. We need to make sure everyone is getting a Lyft up.