A proposal from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour for hotel workers and theme park employees at businesses within unincorporated areas of the county was withdrawn on Thursday, Sept. 7.
Introduced by Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn, the Tourism Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance, listed as item number 20 on the board’s upcoming Sept. 12 meeting agenda, included an attached note saying the motion would not be heard.
“NOTE: Supervisor Hahn requests that this item be referred back to her office,” read the notice on the agenda, referring to her motion.
Hahn’s office confirmed on Thursday that the item she announced on Aug. 8 for discussion and for a possible ordinance before the five-member board on Sept. 12, was not going to be heard and there would be no vote.
“This motion needs some more work before it is ready for a vote,” Hahn said in an emailed response on Thursday. Hahn did not elaborate on what changes were needed.
The proposal would have directed county attorneys to draft an ordinance affecting unincorporated areas that would require workers at hotels with more than 60 rooms, including contractors and lessees, along with theme park workers and workers in related retail, food services and theaters within the theme park zone, to pay workers a minimum of $25 per hour.
The minimum wage would have been increased to $30 an hour by 2028, according to the proposal.
Hahn’s motion was read into the record on Aug. 8 and was seconded by Third District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath. The proposal mirrored similar ordinances being considered by the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Members of the business community have been lobbying against the proposal for the past month. Some say it was efforts from the Los Angeles County Business Federation, known as BizFed, that led Hahn to pull the measure from the agenda.
“We’ve been putting a lot of pressure on,” Tracy Hernandez, founding CEO of…
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