A bill that would allow striking workers to collect unemployment benefits is moving ahead.On Thursday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee sent Senate Bill 799 to the Assembly floor.The bill, which was rewritten late last month, would change the unemployment program’s eligibility requirements to allow workers who have been on strike for two weeks to apply for benefits.The bill has faced criticism from business groups. The California Chamber of Commerce tagged the bill as a “job-killer,” and led dozens of business advocacy groups in opposing the bill.In a statement released before the vote, John Kabateck, California state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said SB 799 “sets the high-water mark for audacity and insidiousness.”“Raiding a broke state unemployment insurance trust fund by allowing workers who elect to go out on strike ⏤ not workers who lost their jobs through no fault of their own ⏤ just to make points with a few labor unions is one of the bigger derelictions of public policy duties elected officials are entrusted to uphold,” Kabateck said. “And it will make bad matters terribly worse for our state’s number one job creators, small business.”A key part of the opposition to SB 799 is that it would open up eligibility and allow more people to draw money from the state’s unemployment insurance fund, which is already carrying a historically high debt load.During the pandemic, so many people filed for unemployment benefits that the fund — which is supposed to be funded by employers’ payroll taxes — had to borrow money from the federal government to pay claims.The fund is still $18 billion in debt. Until it’s paid off, employers will see their unemployment insurance taxes increase by 0.3% — or about $21 per employee — and it will keep going up by another 0.3% annually, until they reach a maximum of $434 per employee, or until the debt is paid off.Sen. Anthony J. Portantino (D-Burbank), the author of SB 799, argued at the Appropriations Committee meeting that his bill won’t have a substantial impact on the unemployment insurance fund.“We’re not talking about a significant hit to the fund, but we are talking about a significant benefit to the worker,” Portantino said.An analysis completed for the committee meeting forecast that the bill would likely result in an additional cost in the low tens of millions of dollars to the fund. Between 2012 and 2022, there were at least 56 strikes across the state that involved more than 1,000 workers. Just two of them lasted longer than two weeks, the time after which striking workers, under the bill, would be allowed to apply for unemployment.“Yes, the fund has its issues,” Portantino said. “But the numbers are not going to exacerbate that problem.”Portantino’s district includes parts of the Los Angeles area where screenwriters have been striking since May.Drawing out the strike is a tactic the film industry is reportedly using as leverage in negotiations. In July, Hollywood trade publication Deadline reported, based on discussions with unnamed studio executives, that studios aren’t planning on trying to seriously bargain with the unions until October, when “union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.”“We would not be in this situation if there were good faith negotiations taking place,” Assembly Majority Leader Isaac G. Bryan said at the meeting.Bryan (D-Culver City) also represents a district heavily impacted by the strikes.“What is not in good faith is when you have leaders on one side of the negotiation saying, ‘We will literally starve you and put you into homelessness. We will go until they lose their homes,’” Bryan said. “That’s an asymmetric negotiation that is pulling the bargaining power away from working people.”Some unions do maintain funds to make up for some members’ lost pay during a strike. During the meeting, Sara Flocks, legislative and strategic campaigns director with the California Labor Federation, said those funds will likely be used up during the first two weeks of a strike.“Strike funds depend on the union. Some have them, some don’t,” Flocks said. “After two weeks of being on strike, many strike funds are already exhausted. That’s when this bill would kick in.”While all businesses have to pay into the unemployment insurance fund, Flocks said that small businesses are also affected when strikes are drawn out.“When you have a strike, there’s a number of workers who are unemployed in one area. We see that with the entertainment strike in Los Angeles, and that impacts local businesses,” Flocks said.The deadline for all bills, including SB 799, to pass through the Legislature is Sept. 14. Then they go to the governor’s desk to be signed into law or vetoed.
See the entire article on Arizona’s unemployment, or, read more Arizona real estate investing news. The choice is up to you.