Page 6 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2020

Can a PANDEMIC show us How to make the Environment more Healthy?
By Steve Birdlebough, Sonoma County Transportation & Land-Use Coalition, and Teri Shore, Greenbelt Alliance
SICK LEAVE cont’d from page 1
Soon after the COVID-19 outbreak, satellite cameras showed images of pollution-free cities in China, where people had been ordered to stay home. Now, we are seeing similar views of the Bay Area. Both sets of photos show that staying home can be good for the environment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 29 percent of the workforce can work remotely, however. Consequently, paid sick leave is necessary for those who must work away from home; and those who are quarantined, isolated, caring for ill family members or children, and health care workers exposed to the virus. Paid sick leave is, therefore, critical for the effective implementation of a comprehensive ‘shelter in place’ strategy to curb the pandemic.
Telecommuting to work, which had been growing, has suddenly exploded, and traffic is light. We found ourselves developing skills for virtual gatherings.
The United States and Japan are the only advanced industrial nations that do not guarantee some form of universal paid sick leave for short-term illness.
At first the virtual meetings and social events may seem awkward, but as we gain experience they can become more fulfilling. Business managers and planners are now scratching their heads to figure out the extent to which new social and commuting habits will persist after the pandemic is over.
The federal relief package recently approved to address the pandemic
does provide 14 paid sick days for workers affected by the corona crisis (the incubation period for the virus is up to two weeks) and 12 weeks for parents who must care for children at home when schools close. Federal paid sick leave is temporary and expires on December 31st. Businesses can also receive a payroll tax credit to offset the costs of paid sick leave.
As this health crisis plays out, policy makers in Sonoma County are
taking steps to renew the existing quarter-cent sales tax that paves the way for significant transportation projects and programs. The Sonoma County Transportation Authority is considering a measure to go before voters this November, to maintain the County’s status as a “self help” county with a local tax for its transportation systems. Certain State transportation funds are restricted to jurisdictions that have such a tax.
But, the federal legislation includes gigantic loopholes. Companies with more than 500 workers (McDonald’s, Marriott, Exon, Chase Manhattan, and Wal-Mart) are exempted—and firms with less than 50 employees can apply for a hardship exemption. According to the Washington Post, only 20 percent of the entire workforce is covered by the new federal paid sick leave policy. Big businesses, supported by the Trump administration, blocked a more expansive temporary paid sick leave policy for the coronavirus crisis along with the Democrats’ proposal for permanent paid sick leave.
As an alternative to the limited federal legislation, states and local jurisdictions can enact paid sick leave: 13 states—including California that approved three paid sick days for all workers in 2015–and 22 cities, including San Francisco, Emeryville, Oakland, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and San Diego, now mandate universal paid sick leave. In Oakland, workers at firms with less than ten employees can earn up to five days of paid sick leave,
and employees of large firms can accrue nine days paid sick leave per year. Unused paid sick leave is capped but can carry over to the following year.
SICK LEAVE cont’d on page 7
The proposed tax could play an important role in protecting the environment and climate if it includes significant incentives for each city and the County to invest early in projects and programs that are most likely to reduce tailpipe emissions.
State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws
The expenditure plan that is being developed for the measure describes many projects that would reduce tailpipe emissions, including electric vehicle charging stations, bicycle-pedestrian crossings of Highway 101, pathways, and streets that are more pedestrian and bicycle-friendly. However, it is not yet clear that these projects that would reduce air pollution will be built before projects that would encourage more driving.
It is important to recognize that as we add lanes of traffic, our driving
habits are reinforced. By contrast, as we add better, more safe bike lanes and sidewalks our cycling and walking habits are reinforced. Early completion of bicycle-pedestrian projects can put us on a path toward cleaner air and better health. Early completion of auto-oriented projects would contribute to poor air quality that impairs our health and adds to the climate crisis.
The State of New York just approved emergency paid sick leave for most residents who are under mandatory quarantine or isolation orders, or for
the care of infected family members and children. Employees of large firms with more than 100 workers and public agencies of any size receive an immediate 14 days paid sick leave. Employees of medium-sized firms with 10 to 99 employees are entitled to five paid sick days, and access to special paid family leave and short-term disability. Small businesses must minimally grant unpaid sick leave to employees. All New York residents are guaranteed job
The preliminary draft of the proposed tax measure is likely to be considered by the Board of the Sonoma County Transportation Authority on Monday, April 13th. Hopefully, the board members will have our travel habits in mind, and decide to make pedestrian and bicycle projects a priority.
health strategy, which includes early and widespread testing; closing schools and non-essential businesses; two-week quarantine for those exposed to infected individuals; and isolation for people testing positive can substantially slow the spread of the highly contagious disease and prevent overburdening hospitals and the public health infrastructure.
It is clear that when we drive less, the air that we breath is more healthy.
Paid Sick Leave and Low-Wage Workers
The pandemic has caused many of us to find that we do not need to jump into our car for every little errand. Many of us are discovering that we can spend more time in our homes, relying on the internet rather than the road network. Over a few weeks, we are developing skills to conduct more of our business in virtual meetings than we thought possible.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 90 percent of the highest- earning private-sector workers are more likely to work from home and have access to paid sick leave, but seven in ten low-wage workers do not get paid sick leave. Nearly one-quarter of all workers–including two of three food service and one in three retail workers–receive no paid sick leave whatsoever. Only 25 percent of private-sector workers receive at least 10 paid sick days annually after twenty years’ service.
Many of the low-wage workers who lack paid sick leave—home health
care, nursing home, retail, janitorial, pharmacy, gas station, grocery, and food service workers—provide essential front-line services. They are constantly at risk of exposure to the coronavirus and other infectious diseases due to public contacts.
Holes in the Federal Emergency Legislation
6 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 4/20