By Adam Bean
Associated Press
When Crystal Orozco fell ill with coronavirus last month, she lost nearly two weeks of her salary as a shift manager at a fast-food restaurant and had to take out a loan from relatives to pay her rent.
“My check was for $86.
I was like, 'Oh my God,'" she recounted.
Now, Orozco is likely to get that money back.
The California Legislature on Monday passed a bill requiring many businesses to give workers up to two weeks of paid leave if they get sick from the coronavirus.
The bill is retroactive from January 1, so Orozco could be entitled to receive payment for the days she missed when she was sick.
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At the start of the pandemic, state and federal laws required most employers to give workers paid coronavirus leave.
But many of those laws expired as more people got vaccinated and the number of cases fell.
The California law expired in September.
Since then, the omicron variant - a more contagious version of the coronavirus - has spread rapidly around the world.
The variant set a California record for the average number of new cases and contributed to an increase in hospitalizations, especially among the unvaccinated population.
Unions have been pushing their Democratic allies in the Legislature to renew the state's furlough law, culminating in a deal reached last month between Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders.
Lawmakers approved the bill Monday and sent it to Newsom, who is expected to sign it into law.
When it does, California will become the fourth state to require paid sick leave for workers who fall ill with the coronavirus.
Similar mandates are still in place in Massachusetts, Colorado and New York, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Crystal Orozco poses in the apartment where she lives with her husband and children in Carmichael, California, on Monday, February 7, 2022. Rich Pedroncelli / AP
Five other states - Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington - have paid sick leave laws that, while not specific to COVID-19 cases, can be used to cover time off due to the coronavirus.
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Orozco is a member of Fight for $15, a group that advocates for a $15 minimum wage and union rights for fast food workers.
He regrets that he was not offered paid sick leave when he fell ill.
At least six of the 16 people who work at his restaurant — more than a third of the workforce — have suffered coronavirus symptoms or missed work because of the virus, according to a complaint filed by workers with state and local authorities.
The complaint is still pending, according to Orozco.
Orozco says she and her husband skipped their car insurance and used borrowed money to help pay their rent.
She said the new bill, once signed into law, will let her "know that I am able to pay back my family that allowed me to borrow that money."
"It's going to help everyone in the same industry (that is) tight on money," he said.
Many Republicans voted against the proposal because of the cost to employers, who are already struggling with labor shortages caused by the pandemic, inflation and supply chain disruptions.
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Republican Assemblyman Vince Fong, of Bakersfield, argued that the bill is a "financial burden that could bankrupt a local store, a local restaurant, or a non-profit organization that barely supports itself."
But Monday's action wasn't all bad news for business.
In 2020, when the pandemic threatened to rock California's economy, the Legislature raised taxes on businesses to help stave off deficits.
Those tax increases were scheduled to expire next year.
But on Monday, lawmakers voted to end them a year early, saving companies some $5.5 billion this year.
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Tax cuts and other measures, such as allowing employers to deduct federal coronavirus grants from their state tax obligations, were key to business groups supporting the new paid sick leave law.
California Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jennifer Barrera said her organization supports the paid sick leave law because it is a "balanced approach to protecting both workers and our economy."
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“In some ways, this feels like a major turning point in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic,” Democratic Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris said of the early end of tax cuts.
However, some Republicans pointed out that the tax cuts will not benefit all businesses.
Sen. Andreas Borgeas, a Fresno Republican, said lawmakers should have offered to reimburse businesses for the cost of paid sick leave, something he said they could afford considering the state has an estimated surplus of 29,000 million dollars, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, speaks about a bill before the state Senate on Capitol Hill in Sacramento, Calif., Monday, Feb. 7, 2022.Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Assemblyman Phil Ting, a Democrat from San Francisco and chairman of the Assembly Budget Committee, said he would "love" lawmakers to approve money later this year to help businesses pay for sick leave for their employees. .
California's sick leave measure gives workers up to a week of paid leave if they contract the coronavirus or care for a sick family member.
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They will only be able to enjoy a second week off if they or their family members test positive.
Employers must pay and provide the test.
The proposal applies only to companies with 26 or more employees, and expires on September 30.
Lawmakers also agreed Monday to spend another $1.9 billion on things like coronavirus testing, distributing vaccines and increasing hospital staffing.
The Newsom Administration expects most of that money to be reimbursed by the federal government.