St. Louis — Voters in Missouri, Nebraska and Alaska will soon decide whether workers in those regions should be eligible for paid sick leave.
If approved, the ballot measures would allow many workers to accrue paid leave, which supporters of the benefit say means workers — particularly those in low-wage jobs — would no longer have to fear losing their salary or possibly their job if they become ill. Supporters say such policies also benefit the general public, by allowing workers to stay home when sick or care for sick family members to stem the spread of infectious diseases.
But opponents say the measures place new burdens on employers, who should be the ones deciding what benefits are best.
The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the gaps in these benefits. At the height of the health crisis, the federal government granted temporary aid to sick workers, but they federal protections ended in 2021.
Fifteen states and the District of Columbia now have laws requiring at least some employers to provide paid sick leave, according to the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington, DC. These are places largely controlled by Democrats.
All three sick leave measures up for a vote are in Republican-led states. The ballot measures, authorized in 24 states, allow voters to amend state constitutions or enact laws by voting directly on an issue, allowing them to bypass state legislatures. For example, voters ushered in Medicaid expansion in Missouri and Nebraska in 2020 and 2018, respectively, after their legislatures were unwilling to pass it.
Yet with Election Day fast approaching, the three sick leave ballot initiatives have flown under the radar, unlike more high-profile ballot measures — e.g. abortion, which is on the ballot in 10 states, including Missouri and Nebraska.
Campaigns supporting sick leave initiatives in Alaska, Missouri and Nebraska have raised less than $9 million combined in cash contributions, according to a KFF Health News analysis of state campaign records as of Oct. 28.
That’s significantly less than Missouri’s ballot measures on abortion and sports betting, which raised more than $55 million combined in cash contributions, according to state records. Television ads flood the airwaves on both measures, and abortion billboards saturate the region.
Most of the money for the sick leave measures comes from donors outside of these three states, the documents show, with the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a Washington-based advocacy group, being the largest contributor to each of the three campaigns. “No one should have to choose between their health and their salary,” the group said in a statement.
The group, which funds progressive causes nationwide, does not disclose its donors, but in recent years nonprofits linked to George Soros and Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss have reportedly donated to it.
It appears that no groups have organized formal campaign committees oppose sick leave measures.
For Alana Ashmore, 18, paid sick leave would be welcome. The Saint-Louis woman works two jobs: one as a restaurant server and another in a gym. When she’s too sick to work, she says, she immediately worries about not being able to pay her $800 monthly rent and starts thinking, “I’d better find a way to get money.” She said she plans to vote for the measure.
More than 930,000 Missourians do not receive paid sick leave, like Ashmore, and the measure is expected to benefit 728,000 private sector workers in the state, according to the Missouri Budget Project, a nonprofit organization focused on analysis of public policies. Some state or local government officials would not be eligible.
If the measures pass, many workers in these three states could receive paid leave while they work, gaining about one week of paid leave per year. In Missouri and Nebraska, workers in large organizations could earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. To earn one day of paid sick leave, they would have to work 40 hours per week for six weeks. In Alaska, eligible workers could accumulate a maximum of 56 hours of paid time each year.
In Missouri and Alaska, measures also aim to increase the minimum wage.
In all three states, the measures received broad support, including from major unions. Jodi Lepaopao, campaign manager for paid sick leave for Nebraskans, said her campaign received support from at least 200 businesses, but not the meatpacking plants whose workers she said would have the most to gain because they often lack paid sick leave.
During the pandemic, meatpacking plants have been hit hard by COVID-19. Nearly one in five meatpacking plant workers were infected between March and July 2020, “a high case burden unparalleled in any other worker population,” the researchers found.
“It will be a big victory for them, if we can win,” Lepaopao said.
St. Louis-based Generate Health, a nonprofit that supports the health of Black moms and their babies, supported Missouri’s paid leave proposal for its employees and customers.
“To have a healthy baby, you have to have a healthy family and ultimately a healthy community,” said Lora Gulley, director of advocacy for Generate Health.
But not all employers have supported the promotion of paid sick leave.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry opposes the proposal because it would impose mandates on employers that it says would “increase the cost of doing business and increase liability for our state’s employers.”
The National Federation of Independent Business also opposed paid sick leave requirements and specifically spoke out against Alaska’s measure, seeing it as a threat to small businesses.
Additionally, ballot measures can increase voter turnout, said Adam Snipes, director of strategic partnerships at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, which works to pass progressive ballot measures across the country. Voters are often enticed to go to the polls because of the stakes, causing ripple effects across all races.
“Even though they may be skeptical of politicians, they are very participatory when it comes to ballot measures,” Snipes said.
KFF Health News Midwest correspondent Bram Sable-Smith contributed to this article.
KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism on health issues and is one of the major operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.
