RICHMOND, Va. -- A grocery story manager pleaded for change Wednesday as legislation mandating paid sick leave for workers is making its way through the Virginia General Assembly.
"About a year ago, my husband... I'm sorry, my husband took a turn for the worse," Lachae Kelly Taliaferro told lawmakers Wednesday.
Taliaferro shared her family's story in hopes that lawmakers would approve House legislation she said could have helped her when her husband suffered from congestive heart failure.
"If I did have sick days to help him, to be there with him, it would have been much better," Taliaferro said.
The legislation would mandate all private and public employers, with some exemptions, allow workers to accrue up to 40 hours of paid sick leave a year. There would be penalties for those who do not comply.
Taliaferro said the grocery store where she was an assistant manager only gave her one day of leave. That left her as the primary breadwinner for their family of five with tough choices.
"Between whether I'm going to stay at home and risk maybe getting behind on bills not being able to pay, or am I going to go to work and let my husband just be by himself sick," Taliaferro said.
Advocates said 16 states already have policies like this in place. There are an estimated 1.2 million Virginians, many of them people of color, without access to a single paid sick day.
"This doesn't just benefit workers," Del. Jeion Ward, a Democrat representing Hampton, said. "Paid sick leave benefit businesses by helping them their companies retain workers and to be competitive.
A bill tailored to healthcare and grocery store workers was also filed in the Senate, but was continued to next year over concerns about how much it will cost.
This House bill is estimated to cost over $7 million in the first year and more than $18 million after that.
The bill's sponsor said that price is worth the cost to keep sick people home.
"You might remember in COVID, how it continued to spread was because some of the people who had COVID couldn't take off," Ward said. "So they went in anyway, and move from one facility to the other facility."
That is scenario Taliaferro said she has witnessed among her staff.
"They come in and sometimes they don't feel well and they are afraid to ask to go home," Taliaferro said.
Sen. Mark Peake, a Republican who represents Bedford County, said that while he has not read this version of the bill, past attempts on the subject leave him concerned about the impact on small businesses.
"And as far as the state goes, of course, we're in a much tighter, budget year or budget biennium this time," Peake said.
As for the COVID argument, Peake said it was something lawmakers addressed at the time and will do so again if it arises.
"We had the emergency relief, and we had to address it, and we had to pay folks and we had to do things," Peake said. "We don't have it. So you just can't mandate it in good times."
However, Taliaferro said it is needed backstop for families.
"So that they have those days so they can take care of their families, so they can take care of themselves," Taliaferro said.
The bill was approved along party lines in the Labor Committee, but still has to be heard by the Appropriations Committee.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin's press office did not directly address the bill, but said he would review any legislation that comes to his desk.
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