LA’s roads are in a shocking state of disrepair. The state of California has the third-worst roads in the nation, according to the Construction Coverage newsletter, with 28.4% in poor condition. And Angelenos know that the problem starts here.

Karen Bass’ team looked at a 130-year-old LA program that actually got stuff done to fix roads — and torched it in the name of compliance with AB 5.

That’s the 2019 law that unions pushed through the state Legislature to force independent contractors to work as employees in some industries.

It’s a story of rigid ideology trumping real-world results.

For decades, independent owner-operators hauled asphalt, debris, and materials for LA’s streets and got the ax. Nearly 100 of these truckers showed up at City Hall in 2023, to protest the bureaucratic guillotine dropped on their livelihoods. The city called it following the law.

The financial bloodbath was, unfortunately, spectacular.

These weren’t app-based side hustlers; they were multi-generational business owners who had bet everything on the city’s long-standing contracts. Many were marginalized people of color.

Families dropped up to $300,000 per emissions-compliant truck, often using their homes as collateral, to abide by city rules. The city nagged them for months to upgrade their rigs — only to send termination letters shortly after.

The financial hit ran into the tens of millions. Surprise, surprise: Some drivers claimed the city waited until a $100 million federal road grant cleared before dropping the hammer.

Nothing says fiscal responsibility like bankrupting the very people keeping your streets from turning into moon craters.

These family companies weren’t asking for handouts.

But Bass’ following of AB 5’s sacred proclamation declared decades of entrepreneurial service rendered noncompliant overnight. Poof! Contract’s gone.

City Hall graciously offered them unionized heavy duty truck operator jobs instead. Because nothing screams “we value your independence” like forcing proud business owners into civil service after they’ve already lost their shirts on trucks the city told them to buy.

---

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

This maneuver stripped away flexible, on-call hauling capacity that once kept hundreds of miles of streets and alleys from total collapse.

Fast-forward three years to 2026, and LA’s streets look exactly like you’d expect after sidelining experienced operators during budget crunches and staffing shortages.

Full curb-to-curb resurfacing? Basically vanished.

The city switched to “large asphalt repair,” those charming patches that cost more per square foot, deliver worse results, and cleverly dodge the expensive ADA ramps and Measure HLA mandates.

The maintenance backlog is exploding toward $15 billion. Potholes are thriving.

Spencer Pratt saw this fiasco, connecting the dots without apology: “When I heard the story, it all made sense why our streets are destroying tires and suspension.”

Pratt calls out the obvious and pledged to revive the program if elected, arguing Bass’ City Hall needs to stop the wasteful spending and bring back the practical, flexible hauling that actually worked before the lawyers and labor ideologues got involved.

LA’s priority in 2023 wasn’t fixing streets or supporting working families. It was ticking an AB 5 compliance box.

The multigenerational truckers who built real equity and real results got financially wrecked, and the rest of us get to swerve around craters.

Classic. Costs are rising, service quality is dropping, and the backlog is growing.

LA cannot afford more such experiments. Reviving the independent haul model, through B2B exemptions, restructuring, or state advocacy, represents the pragmatic path forward.

As Pratt argues, it is time to prioritize working families and functional infrastructure over ideological purity. The city’s streets, and its residents, deserve better.

Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based in San Francisco.