Gavin Newsom Vetoes WGA And SAG-AFTRA Backed-Bill To Provide Unemployment Benefits To Striking Workers

deadline.com:

California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have made striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits. WGA and SAG-AFTRA backed the legislation amid their walkout, but Newsom said in a statement that the state’s UI trust fund is “vulnerable to insolvency.” “Any expansion of eligibility for UI benefits could increase California’s outstanding federal UI debt projected to be nearly $20 billion by the end of the year and could jeopardize California’s Benefit Cost Ratio add-on waiver application, significantly increasing taxed on employers,” Newsom said, adding that the state is responsible for the interest payments on the federal UI loan and has paid $362.7 million in interest with another $302 million due this month. “Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote.

His decision to veto the legislation comes after the WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement to end the strike, with SAG-AFTRA returning to the bargaining table with studios next week.

The bill passed the state Senate last month by a vote of 27-12 and earlier cleared the Assembly 59-18. In his statement, Newsom said that he has “deep appreciation and respect for workers who fight for their rights and come together in collective action.” But his veto still is a blow to organized labor, with unions pointing to the need for a “safety net” for the workers and their families. “At a time when public support of unions and strikes is at an all-time high, this veto is out of step with American values,” said Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher of the California Labor Federation.

Supporters of the bill argued that, with the maximum unemployment benefit just $450 per week, the expansion of unemployment benefits would be to provide