On Wednesday April 1, 2020, the San Jose City Council unanimously voted to direct city staff to create an urgency paid sick leave ordinance as detailed below:
- Immediate grant of 80 hours of paid sick leave for COVID-19 related quarantine and/or illness
- Exemption for employers already providing 80 hours of paid time off in the aggregate (vacation, sick time, other PTO)
- The ordinance will expire by December 31st
- Only applies to essential businesses that are legally allowed to operate under County and State orders. Businesses working remotely are exempt.
- Prioritizes no-interest loans or grants for small businesses that comply with this ordinance through the Silicon Valley Strong Fund.
- Provides communication and easy-to-understand information and in multiple languages, via direct mail, in addition to other communications channels, to small and medium-sized businesses
- Performs the needed analysis, implement stakeholder engagement, and monitor state and federal legislation before returning to City Council on April 7, 2020.
The final vote on the ordinance will take place next week on April 7, 2020.
Governor Newsom has extended the State and Local tax deadlines for businesses through executive orders that:
Read more here: https://www.gov.ca.gov/2020/03/30/governor-newsom-signs-executive-order-providing-relief-to-california-small-businesses/
On Wednesday March 25th, the San Jose City Council Rules Committee voted 4-1 to direct staff to draft a Paid Sick Leave Urgency Ordinance , voting to pass Mayor Sam Liccardo's memorandum that takes into consideration the needs of small businesses. The draft proposal will be reviewed by the Council Rules Committee on Wednesday April 1, 2020 and then by the Council for adoption on Tuesday April 7, 2020.
The SVO proactively advocated to the Mayor and Council necessary exemptions for small businesses, details of which will be worked out at the future meetings. See our letter below:
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Checkout a fantastic partnership between all sectors public, private and non-profit to launch County of Santa Clara, California's Homelessness Prevention System's COVID-19 Financial Assistance Program!
Funded by SVO members like Cisco, Adobe, and Micron Technology, Inc., the program will provide financial assistance to residents of Santa Clara County whose household income is less than 80% of the average median income and who can prove loss of income related to COVID-19 impacts due to health, employment, or school/child care closures.
Additionally, the County and the City of San Jose will consider millions of dollars in contract agreements to support these efforts at their respective meetings tomorrow on Tuesday March 24, 2020.
See the County's Agenda Items 7 & 8 linked here: https://bit.ly/2Uz3VpV
See the City of San Jose's Agenda Item 8.4 linked here: https://bit.ly/2QCh0xh
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The San Jose City Council Rules Committee voted to delay hearing the Paid Sick Leave Urgency Ordinance proposed by Councilmembers Carrasco, Esparza and Arenas. The Council voted to delay the item so that City staff could hone in on the scope and duration of the proposed ordinance.
The SVO sent a letter expressing deep concerns on the proposal as it would further hurt businesses and in turn working families by forcing more costs in a time of decreased revenue causing more job loss with it.
Click here to read more: https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4393852&GUID=8A677E72-3F1B-400A-B5CA-CCFDA4E7664A&Options=&Search=
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After hearing from our members, over half of which are small businesses, The SVO advocated to the San Jose City Council urging the City to create a plan specific to helping small businesses survive during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The Council unanimously adopted portions of memos by Councilmember Lan Diep, Vice Mayor Chappie Jones and Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco. These recommendations will return to Council at a future date to be passed into law at that point.
The package includes:
- Creating an Office of Small Business, adding a full-time staff member to help small businesses with resources, advice and assistance
- Implementing a 30 day moratorium on evictions for commercial leases for small businesses who fail to make payment due to economic impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic
San Jose will also temporarily suspend parking enforcement on parking meters and garages so that businesses near them can attract customers.
Click here to read more https://sanjose.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4394483&GUID=AE27939E-042A-4C0D-B550-A21B044FF37A&Options=&Search=
The Council voted to create a temporary 30 day eviction moratorium preventing renters from being evicted if they prove they fail to make rent due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Click here to read more https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/departments-offices/housing/eviction-moratorium
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