California lawmakers are considering legislation that would require hospitals, clinics and skilled nursing facilities to pay medical professionals $10,000 in “hero pay” for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But some employers and business groups have bristled at the $7-billion price tag, calling the bill “dangerous and costly.”
Assembly Bill 650 by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Rolling Hills Estates) would award bonuses in four equal payments of $2,500 during 2022, with smaller bonuses for those who work part time. The pay would be spread out in hopes that the cash would entice healthcare workers to remain in their jobs, said the bill’s main proponent, the Service Employees International Union California, a labor union whose membership includes healthcare workers.
“We had the privilege of working from the safety of our homes. Our front-line healthcare workers day in and day out had to go on the front lines of this pandemic and go into combat against this horrific virus,” Muratsuchi said. “They went to work putting themselves at risk on a daily basis to take care of our families, our loved ones, those among us who suffered and died from this terrible virus.”
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