News & Publications
Kurt Oneto Named to Capitol Weekly’s “Top 100 of 2023” (#71)
On August 16, Kurt Oneto, the head of Nielsen Merksamer’s government law section, was named to the Capitol Weekly’s Top 100, that publication’s annual compendium of the most powerful movers and shakers in California politics and public policy. Capitol Weekly is one of California’s most respected sources for political and government news and views, and the release of its Top 100 list has become one of the most highly anticipated events in Sacramento circles. This is Oneto’s second straight year on the list.
As the Capitol Weekly folks note, Kurt is a major player in the initiative and referendum world, in a state where many of the leading policy questions of the day eventually end up before the voters, and he is carrying Nielsen Merksamer’s long tradition of influence in California politics.
Among several dozen major statewide measures that Kurt has written, perhaps the most notable is Proposition 22, the 2020 ballot measure sponsored by Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other app-based delivery companies to provide benefits to those companies’ drivers while still allowing the drivers to maintain their status as independent contractors who can work for multiple employers. Kurt, along with other members of Nielsen Merksamer’s litigation section, Art Scotland, Sean Welch and David Lazarus, was also part of the litigation team that successfully defended Prop. 22 in the Court of Appeal earlier this year.