SB 2018-235: Ensuring Cancer Pay Act (Debating)

[Sestak]

Ok Haslam.

Unless you indicate otherwise in the next 48 hours, I am going to assume you don't have an amendment and will begin working on one myself.

[Sestak]

This needs a sponsor, potential sponsors please declare in 48 hours or I'll table this.

[Sestak]

Alright, but ideally I'd like for an amendment to follow within the next week.

24 to object.

[Sestak]

Lok is now the sponsor.

Sponsor's amendment is assumed friendly, 24 hours to object.

[Sestak]

Amendment has been adopted.

Do we want to start looking at a subsidy for affected small business?

[Sestak]

I offer the following:

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[Sestak]

...I was under the impression that intermediate versions could violate Paygo as long as it's funded by the time of the final vote...

[Sestak]

24 hrs w/o object = adopted

[Sestak]

I don't even know anymore. It seems like some people want to keep this bill alive, but no one ever does anything with it and I don't know what the f**k to do with it either.

[Sestak]

Honestly, I feel like it may be a better idea to reshape this so that the wages are publicly paid for, almost as a sort of unemployment insurance, combined with perhaps a civil penalty to be paid if the employer cannot offer their position back afterwards. I think that should solve the problem without as much of a burden on smaller businesses.

[Sestak]

I introduce an amendment to replace the body with the following framework:


Section 1. Short Title
This bill shall be referred to as the Ensuring Cancer Pay Act.

Section 2. What qualifies for the payment

Section 3. How the payment is calculated

Section 4. Administration

Section 5. (Potential) Employer Penalty

Section 6. Funding

Section 7. Date of effect
This act shall take effect on [date here].

[Sestak]

So this is the framework I envisioned. I'm going to open a vote so we can decide if we want to go through with this.

[Sestak]

So this is the framework I envisioned. I'm going to open a vote so we can decide if we want to go through with this.

OK, when does voting start?

This is technically a half-hour late, but...now.

[Sestak]

Guys there are still not enough votes on the framework, so I guess it fails...

What now?

[Sestak]

Right, ok, reintroducing the framework.

Just going to point this out to everyone; this will increase the deficit by a reasonable amount - either directly or (more likely) by taking funding from sources that would otherwise be used to pay it down.

If we want to go through with this, though, it's either that or a ridiculous burden on businesses.

24 hours to object to the framework.

[Sestak]

Yeah, the framework will allow us to design it step by step, and we can check costs along the way.

[Sestak]

So the framework is adopted.

Now can the people who've insisted on keeping this alive actually share what their ideas for it are? Let's start with Secs 2 and 3: What exactly should qualify people for the benefit and how should we calculate how much the benefit is?