If you have spent any time watching television lately you should be aware that we are in full-blown election season. The back and forth between the Bacon and Vargas ads alone can make you dizzy.

But the ballot will also be loaded with initiatives that deserve our attention.

One of those initiatives that hasn’t gotten much publicity is the petition to have small businesses guarantee sick leave for their employees. After all, compared to more emotional issues like abortion, medical marijuana, and school funding, the paid sick leave initiative affects fewer people. It is nowhere near as heated as some of the others.

If you own or work for one of the countless small businesses in the state, this is a pretty big deal. Both sides of this issue have valid claims.

In a perfect world, every small business would offer paid sick leave as a benefit to hire and retain quality employees. In a perfect world, they could also offer paid health care and other benefits.

But we don’t live in a perfect world. And the fact is that many of these small businesses can’t afford to offer those benefits.

If passed, the measure would require businesses with less than 20 employees to give five paid sick days a year to full-time employees. If they have more than 20 employees, they would have to give them seven days of paid sick leave.

Full and part-time employees would also earn additional sick leave for every thirty hours worked.

Like I said, in a perfect world there would not even be a reason to put this to a vote. It would just be automatically voluntarily offered by the employer.

But since it is going to be put to a vote, I will have to vote no.

It’s tough enough to start a new business. It may be tough to make ends meet just by paying the five or six employees you do have, let alone pay them for days they’re not there. Forcing payment for work that isn’t getting done can be a real hardship for many of these mom-and-pop operations.

If it’s not a hardship, then they would be offering the sick days anyway. And if they don’t, the employees should seek employment with a firm that offers better benefits.

But what if it does pass? What happens to many of these small entrepreneurial ventures? Do they just close up shop? Or do they find some way around it? Could they bypass the new law by making employees contract labor instead?

I’m not a lawyer, but I do know the human spirit, and I’m sure someone will find a way to circumvent the law.

While the initiative offers a provision for penalties for employers that don’t abide by the law, it doesn’t specify what those penalties would be. That will be determined later.

The arguments for voting for this bill are more than valid. Folks should stay home when they are sick. As one proponent of the bill said: do you want cooks and waitresses sneezing on your food? Of course not. But all too often, even in businesses that offer sick pay, people still come into work with a cold, fever, or other ailment. No law will change that.

I’ll admit this ballot measure is not something I feel passionately about either way. I do feel passionate about legalizing medical marijuana and supporting women’s reproductive rights. But I don’t care that much how this vote turns out.

However, I’m going to support the free market deciding this issue by letting employees seek employment with companies that offer the benefits, and employers realizing that offering these benefits is just good business.

This election is important on so many levels, but there is so much more than just voting for President, Senators, and Congressmen. We all need to educate ourselves on the down-ballot candidates and the issues facing us.

I know I’m dreaming an impossible dream when I say that. And truth be told I haven’t always followed that advice myself. But as I’ve gotten older, I have realized just how important it is to be an educated voter. Just because things have always worked out in the past doesn’t mean they will continue to work out in the future.

As I’ve often said, we don’t need voter ID. We need voter IQ.

Tom Becka is a long time Nebraska broadcaster who for over 30 years has been covering Omaha and Midwest issues on both radio and TV. He has been a guest on numerous national cable and news shows, filled in for nationally syndicated talk radio programs and Talkers Magazine has recognized him as one of the Top 100 talk show hosts in the country 10 times. Never afraid to ruffle some feathers, his ‘Becka’s Beat’ commentaries can be found online on Youtube and other digital platforms.