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SB 2716, Fiona Ma’s 2008 bill guaranteeing California workers paid sick leave, has died in Committee. While our blog recently highlighted a July CA poll underscoring the popularity of and support for paid sick days legislation across party lines, the bill was newly stalled in the Senate Appropriations Committee because it was too expensive.

Opposition to the bill by the small business lobby, including the National Federation of Independent Business, has been strong and appears to have played a part in the sidetracking of the legislation. For instance, NFIB issued “AB2716 — The CA Healthy Workplaces Act of 2008: Economic and Small Business Effects,” predicting, among other things, that the proposed bill would cost California 370,000 jobs and would burden employers with 4.6 billion in new costs over a 5-year period.

Meanwhile, Ohio voters are taking the paid sick days issue into their own hands. There, Ohioans for Healthy Families, a 220-member coalition of organizations trying to bring paid sick days to the 2.2 million Ohio workers without them, has just submitted more than 240,000 voter signatures to the Secretary of State, in an effort to place paid sick days legislation on the November ballot (only 121,000 authenticated signatures are needed). The proposed OH legislation, the Healthy Families Act, would require companies with at least 25 or more employees to give workers at least 7 paid sick days a year.

A recent poll issued by Quinnipiac University has indicated that over 70% of Ohio voters favor the passage of paid sick days legislation. Similar to the California poll, this poll indicates broad support across party lines, with 83% of Democrats, 68% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans backing the legislation.

With no states passing paid sick days legislation to date through traditional house/senate means, it will be interesting to see if the Ohio strategy– attempting to pass paid sick days law through referendum– has a different outcome. Any predictions?

• Policy , Sick Leave