Paid sick days

Lots of opinions from the state's newspapers on Ohio's paid sick days bill to be voted on this November.

From the Dispatch

Gov. Ted Strickland knows that the sick-day mandate proposed for the November ballot would be terrible for business and job creation in Ohio. He has acknowledged as much.

That's why his action on this issue will be one of the most profound tests of his leadership.

On Tuesday, a union-led coalition submitted petitions to the Ohio secretary of state to add the Ohio Healthy Families Act to the ballot. If voters approve it, all companies of 25 or more full-time employees will be required to provide seven paid sick days a year to their workers.

Ohio, which ranks 47th out of 50 states for job creation, cannot stand another job killer, yet here it is. This is an enormously expensive, complicated mandate. If it passes, Ohio would be the only state in the nation that mandates sick leave. That would be like a neon sign flashing to the global marketplace: Don't bring your businesses and jobs here. Take them next door to Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, West Virginia or Pennsylvania.

From The Enquirer

Nobody really wants to see Ohio workers, already struggling with rising prices in a tough economy, having to worry about keeping their jobs and income when they or their children get sick. But a union-backed ballot initiative that would require Ohio businesses with as few as 25 employees to provide seven days' paid sick leave to each worker, no questions asked, is certainly not the answer.

From the Vindicator

Sick leave law would kill Ohio

The state of Ohio may be facing one of its biggest gambles ever, and it has nothing to do with the Lotto, Keno or casinos. It’s all about mandatory sick leave.

A coalition of unions, social service agencies and Democratic politicians calling itself Ohioans for Healthy Families appears to have collected enough signatures to put an issue on the November ballot that would require every company in the state with more than 25 employees to provide at least seven paid sick days for their employees.

If passed in November, the issue would make Ohio the only state in the Union with required sick leave. It’s difficult to imagine how loud the sucking sound will be as jobs leave the state.

Are the people at Progress Ohio absolute idiots or do they just not care? If this is such a great idea why the exemption for small employers? Don't the people who work for them deserve the same benefits as employees for big companies?

Let's assume this passes and doesn't wipe out the Ohio business climate. What do you think are the odds of a business coming to this state, knowing the general anti business climate of the electorate?

Even Ted Strickland knows the impact of this baby on the state's fragile economic status, proving to me he's not a complete dumb ass.