TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file the Letter of Completion from the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk for the Long Beach Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers Referendum, and approve one of the following alternative actions, as required by the California Elections Code Section 9241 and the Long Beach City Charter Section 2000:
1) Request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance repealing
Ordinance No. ORD-22-0022 in its entirety; or
2) Request City Attorney to prepare a resolution calling for a special
election to consider the adoption of Ordinance No. ORD-22-0022;
or
3) Request City Attorney to prepare a resolution placing the question
of the adoption of Ordinance No. ORD-22-0022 on the ballot at the
next Statewide election on March 5, 2024.
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach is in receipt of the Long Beach Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers Referendum (Referendum) that was filed with the Office of the City Clerk on September 21, 2022, against the City Council adopted Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance (ORD-22-0022).
The City’s Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance was set to take effect on September 26, 2022, at 12:01 a.m., which would have required certain healthcare facilities and physician groups identified in Section 5.96.020 of the Ordinance to increase the wages of covered workers to a $25 per hour minimum. The recommendation to increase the local healthcare worker minimum wage was initially proposed by a voter-initiated petition. In June 2022, the City Council requested an economic impact study be conducted and, after review of the study, unanimously voted to adopt it as a City Ordinance during the August 16, 2022 meeting.
As a result of the Referendum filing, ORD-22-0022, which was adopted by the Long Beach City Council on August 16, 2022, was suspended. The Office of the City Clerk reviewed the referendum petition to ensure it met all legal requirements, including determining if it contained the required minimum number ...
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