After writing about the effect California’s new anti-choice, anti-freelancing bill, AB 5, I discussed the bill and how I made my decision to become a Californian living in exile in North Carolina with KABC’s Larry O’Connor.

A couple of highlights:

Question: “What about benefits? You don’t get health insurance… this law is supposed to protect you, Jennifer.”

Answer: “I’d like to think that I have the brains to know how to protect myself and don’t need Lorena Gonzalez to tell me how to do that or to mandate how to do that…I don’t need you [Lorena] to tell me what I’m at risk for and protect me. Just get out of my way.”

While discussing how companies might change how they deal with freelancers living in California: “The other part of that equation is the employer or the company. What if they just don’t want to contract with you under any circumstances because they don’t know how California is going to end up interpreting this, and they don’t want to take the risk of huge fines that are arbitrary, just like everything else in this bill.”

I also called out three Republicans (one who’s now a former Republican) for either voting for the bill or abstaining: Tyler Diep (Orange County), Jordan Cunningham (San Luis Obispo) and Chad Mayes (Riverside County). Diep, a freshman legislator who was narrowly elected in a formerly safe GOP seat, actually voted for this bill.