The Rundown

House Dems ask DeWine to create temporary paid sick leave due to coronavirus

By: David DeWitt - March 9, 2020 11:08 am

A researcher works in a COVID-19 lab. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images).

House Democratic lawmakers sent a letter to Gov. Mike DeWine Monday urging him to consider creating a temporary paid sick leave program to lessen the impact a coronavirus outbreak would have on the state.

“We appreciate that the Ohio Department of Health is asking employers to be flexible with their sick leave policies and allowing employees to stay home,” the 34 lawmakers wrote. “However, there is no guarantee employers will grant this request, and at the same time, employees who live paycheck-to-paycheck and cannot afford to stay away from their jobs will need income.”

A release said the governor has several options to fund the program, including:

Declaring an emergency and using general revenue funding,
Utilizing money from the Controlling Board’s Emergency Purposes Fund,
Tapping into the Budget Stabilization Fund, which is already nearing full capacity,
Using TANF funds that have been reserved for emergencies and unforeseen circumstances.

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David DeWitt

OCJ Editor-in-Chief and Columnist David DeWitt has been covering government, politics, and policy in Ohio since 2007, including education, health care, crime and courts, poverty, state and local government, business, labor, energy, environment, and social issues. He has worked for the National Journal, The New York Observer, The Athens NEWS, and Plunderbund.com. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism and is a board member of the E.W. Scripps Society of Alumni and Friends. He can be found on Twitter @DC_DeWitt