Citizens in Orange County, Florida will not have a chance to vote for paid sick leave on November 6th due to the fierce opposition of business allies.
Earlier this summer, the Citizens for a Greater Orange County gathered 50,000 signatures to place an initiative, called Earned Sick Time, to require any business with more than 15 employees to grant 6 weeks of paid family leave on the ballot.
Instead of allowing residents to vote, the Orange County Commission stopped the initiative in its tracks, arguing that it was unclear whether charities and religious organizations would be required to provide paid sick days (why shouldn’t they?) Conveniently, that’s the same rationale used by local business groups in decrying the initiative. The Orlando Sentinel:
“The petition leads voters to believe that its proposed ordinance will impose its sick-leave requirement only on businesses, which is far from true,” said Jacob Stuart, president of the Central Florida Partnership, adding that it would also apply to groups such as churches, charities and nonprofit hospitals.