In today's economy, self-employed workers, sometimes called gig workers, often have to work different jobs to make a living.

Georgetown Republican state representative Philip Pratt believes that employers should help fund benefit plans like health and disability insurance that workers can take with them.

House Bill 465 would make those portable benefit plans part of a compensation package for the self-employed.

Representative Pratt believes it could be a win win for both businesses and gig workers that aren't usually afforded such benefits.

But Democrats say this could lead to fraud and abuse.

Kentucky Auditions June Leffler explains.

This is 100% voluntary.

If you have a subcontractor or you have a someone in a gig that you really want to keep, you may offer these.

You don't have to.

But without this, you can't.

Bill opponents ask if a contractor is so valuable that they deserve benefits.

Why not just make them an employee where a lot.

Of our professional organizations from corporations are using independent contractors as sort of a way to hire someone in as a consultant or as an independent.

That person generally takes in a lot of times, takes that job as a way to sort of get their foot in the door, hoping that it will turn into full time, proper employment.

But if these kinds of things are put into place, and that's even more incentive for the employer to never make them an employer employee.

Employers have to offer employees certain protections and cover their taxes.

Contractors don't get the same treatment.

It shifts costs of Social Security, Medicare over to to the to the contractor.

It makes them ineligible for worker's comp if they get injured on the job.

Again, they don't pay into unemployment insurance.

They're not subject to minimum wage laws to overtime laws, to worker safety laws.

There's more opportunity for fraud and abuse when the compliance is spread from large employers down to many more independent contractors.

Yes, there are always bad actors, but the more actors there are, the more ripe it is for such abuse.

One of the biggest unions in Kentucky, the AFL-CIO, also opposes the bill, but with little comment, Republicans sided with the bill's sponsor.

I'm amazed that we are not want to offer health insurance to gig workers if somebody doesn't have it in today's economy after it blows my mind.

For Kentucky Edition, I'm June Leffler.