TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file a withdrawal of the referendum and initiative petitions for the “Long Beach Minimum Wage for Healthcare Workers”; and
Declare ordinance repealing Ordinance No. ORD-22-0022, also known as Chapter 5.96 (“Healthcare Minimum Wage”), read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
This office has prepared and submits the above-described Ordinance for your consideration to repeal ORD 22-0022, also known as Chapter 5.96 (“Healthcare Minimum Wage”).
Brief History of ORD 22-0022
• June 6, 2022 - A group of residents filed a petition to enact an initiative ordinance to add Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 5.96 (“Healthcare Minimum Wage”), to establish a minimum wage $25.00 per hour for qualifying healthcare workers working in the City of Long Beach.
• August 26, 2022 - In lieu of placing the Healthcare Minimum Wage on the ballot, the City Council voted in favor of its adoption without alteration, as authorized by Elections Code section 9215(a). The Healthcare Minimum Wage was adopted as ORD 22-0022.
• September 21, 2022 - The Healthcare Minimum Wage was challenged by a referendum petition, which suspended the effective date of the ordinance and required that the City Council either repeal the ordinance in its entirety or submit it to a vote of Long Beach voters.
• November 15, 2022 - The City Clerk, through the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, certified the referendum. The City Council opted to submit the Healthcare Minimum Wage to a vote of Long Beach voters in the March 2024 primary election.
• October 13, 2023 -The Governor approved a statewide minimum wage for qualifying healthcare workers, Senate Bill 525 (SB 525), which contains a provision that any ordinance, regulation, or administrative action by a local government, including charter cities, applicable to healthcare facilities identified in SB 525 is void if it w...
Click here for full text