The state law didn’t contain a provision to reimburse businesses — and it's also not included in Newsom’s proposed budget, or in his emergency $1.4 billion request for COVID response.
Ashley Hoffman, a policy advocate at the California Chamber of Commerce, said her group continues to have concerns about the costs to businesses — and raised the argument that paid sick leave encourages workers not to get vaccinated.
“Businesses are already doing a lot to help fight the pandemic. There’s been a lot of mandates through Cal/OSHA,” she told CalMatters. “There’s this general issue of, how much [obligation] does the business community have to continue to subsidize those workers who are choosing to continue to be unvaccinated? That seems to cut against the state’s message to get vaccinated.”
The governor’s office said it would not comment on that argument, or whether any aid for businesses is under consideration.
“We’re working with the Legislature to craft a policy that meets the needs of 2022, which are different than 2021’s, given new and revised information about science and vaccines,” said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the state's Department of Finance.
In voicing his support for renewing paid leave, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon suggested he would be open to aiding some employers. “In the absence of new federal funding to assist small businesses with COVID sick leave requirements, I support augmenting the Governor’s budget to add state funding for this purpose, and we have already had a productive discussion on this,” Rendon said in a statement.
Federal guidelines, endorsed by state health officials, recommend that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, should isolate for five days if they test positive. (In response to staffing shortages, the state on Saturday made an exception for some asymptomatic health care workers through January.)
“We believe it’s important to value those workers and provide them sick leave protections,” Newsom said at his budget rollout Monday.
Democratic leaders of the Legislature agreed. “We look forward to working out the details and reaching early agreement on this budget action,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins told CalMatters.
Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said that, given the budget surplus, now is the right time to protect workers and help struggling small businesses.
“Workers should not have to make a choice between losing their job or taking care of their health or the health of a loved one. And small businesses, who are the heart of many communities, need support as we move forward with pandemic and economic recovery efforts,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “These efforts are not mutually exclusive, they are complementary. We can do both.”