Lawmakers are back in Richmond considering how they should handle the pandemic.
One thing they’re not doing is requiring businesses to offer paid sick days, at least not yet.
Earlier this year, Senator Barbara Favola of Arlington tried to get lawmakers to approve a requirement that employers offer paid sick days. A similar bill passed the House, but then the effort died at the last minute when Senate Democrats were concerned about the cost to Virginia of offering paid sick days to part time state workers. Then the pandemic hit.
Favola came back with a bill that requires paid sick days to full time employees for the duration of the pandemic. “I can’t tell you exactly the number of businesses that would be affected by this, but I can say that this is a very reasonable bill, which most businesses are going to want to live by anyway. I just think that in the middle of a public health emergency, this is something we should do,” Favola said Wednesday evening.
Business groups raised alarms about how much this new mandate would cost at a time when they’re struggling to make ends meet during an economic crisis.
Senator Creigh Deeds of Bath County voted with a majority of committee members against the bill. “I want people to get additional money too. I want people to take time off work when they’re sick. But I wonder where this additional money is going to come from.”
Advocates are hopeful that a similar bill on the House side from Delegate Elizabeth Guzman of Woodbridge will get a better reception. But even then, they’ll need to make some changes if they hope to get it through the Senate.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
