California Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday vetoed a bill that would have paid unemployment benefits to striking workers, and had drawn strong support from labor unions and from his fellow Democrats in the state legislature.
In rejecting the bill, Newsom noted that the state’s unemployment trust fund is already nearing $20 billion in debt.
“Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote in a message explaining his veto.