— When Crystal Orozco got sick with the coronavirus last month, she missed nearly two weeks’ worth of her salary as a shift leader at a fast food restaurant and had to ask family members for a loan to help pay her rent.Small Earthquake Rattles Silver Lake
Since then, omicron — a more contagious version of the coronavirus — has spread rapidly throughout the world. The variant set a record in California for the average number of new cases and contributed to an increase in hospitalizations, mostly among the unvaccinated population. Five other states — Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington — have paid sick leave laws that, while not COVID-specific, can be used cover time off from the coronavirus.
Orozco said she and her husband had to skip their car insurance payment and used borrowed money to help pay rent. She said the new bill, once signed into law, will allow her to “know I’m able to pay back my family that let me borrow that money.”“It’s going to help everybody in the same industry tight on money,” she said.
But Monday’s action wasn’t all bad news for businesses. In 2020, when the pandemic threatened to upend the California’s economy, the Legislature raised taxes on businesses to help avoid a deficit. Those tax increases were scheduled to expire next year. But Monday, lawmakers voted to end them one year early, saving businesses roughly $5.5 billion this year.
Still, some Republicans noted the tax cuts won’t benefit all businesses. Sen. Andreas Borgeas, a Republican from Fresno, said lawmakers should have offered to reimburse businesses for the cost of the paid sick leave — something he says they could afford to do given the state has an estimated $29 billion surplus, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
California should pay not already struggling businesses.