Sick-leave measure dies in Senate committee

Legislation to make California the first state to require paid sick leave for all workers died Thursday in a Senate committee.

Assemblywoman Fiona Ma vowed to reintroduce the measure next year.

"I will continue to fight for the 5 (million) to 6 million California workers who fear getting sick and losing their job," the San Francisco Democrat said.

Ma's Assembly Bill 2716 was one of hundreds of bills acted upon by the Senate and Assembly appropriations committees Thursday, three weeks before the scheduled end of the legislative session.

AB 2716 was fiercely opposed by business interests, but its demise apparently was due to its projected costs of implementation and enforcement in a year when the state faces a $15.2 billion deficit.

The bill would have entitled full- and part-time workers to a limited number of paid sick days each year for illnesses involving themselves or their spouse, parent, child or domestic partner.

Supporters argued that paid sick leave would improve morale, reduce turnover and lower health-care costs because employees would be less likely to endanger co-workers or customers by coming to work when they felt ill.

Opponents labeled the bill anti-business, saying it would harm the economy by imposing a one-size-fits-all mandate that many small businesses simply could not afford.

"In an already troubled economy, California should be seeking ways to stimulate job growth and avoid forcing costly mandates on employers," the California Chamber of Commerce said in a letter opposing the measure.

Ma's bill would have entitled workers to one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Businesses of 10 employees or more would have provided up to nine days of sick leave per year. Smaller firms would have provided up to five days.

Implementing and enforcing AB 2716 would have cost the state nearly $900,000 next year – and perhaps many millions more if the state were ordered to reimburse counties for the sick leave of workers providing in-home services for the elderly, blind and disabled, a Senate analysis said.

Other bills shelved Thursday included Senate Bill 825, designed to promote instruction to new parents and caregivers about the dangers of shaking babies.

Three general obligation bond measures died:

• Senate Bill 1516: $4 billion for library construction and renovation.

• Senate Bill 1670: $2 billion for energy efficiency measures in state buildings.

• Senate Bill 1672: $2.25 billion to benefit facilities that offer career training in clean technology, renewable energy or energy efficiency.

About the writer:

• Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538. Daniel Zarchy, Bee Capitol Bureau, contributed to this report.