Long Beach Council Votes To Dump Its Own ("The Long Beach Way") Minimum Wage, Will Follow Sac'to's Way With Statewide Law's Slower Pay Increases

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Over Councilwoman Price's objections, Council budgets roughly $700,000 to take local actions, possibly assisting state, without knowing what actions city can or can't take under state law, sum includes newly-added $220,000 without knowing from where to pursue/assist in wage theft matters ("friendly amendment" by Gonzalez)

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(Sept. 7, 2016. 5:05 a.m.) -- After months of polarizing public meetings and dueling economic studies that begat a Long Beach City Council-majority approved minimum wage ordinance in Jan. 2016 (6-2, Mungo and Supernaw dissenting, Price absent due to family medical emergency), the Council voted 8-0 (Andrews absent) on Sept. 6 to follow Sacramento's way and align itself with the state legislature's minimum wage law SB 3 (passed by both houses of the state legislature on March 31 [recorded votes here]) with wage increases applicable statewide that are somewhat slower than the LB ordinance.

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LBREPORT.com carried LIVE VIDEO of the Council proceedings in which LB's Council of Business Associations and several Long Beach business owners/operators urged the Council to align itself with the new state law so as not to put Long Beach businesses at what they said would be a competitive disadvantage with businesses in other cities [an argument that a Council majority didn't accept in Jan. 2016.] Labor interests urged the Council to stick with its previously approved local ordinance and stressed the need to pursue wage theft issues.

Councilwoman Mungo made the motion to align with the state, which was seconded by Councilwoman Gonzalez, who offered a "friendly amendment" to add two investigators to pursue wage theft matters (city staff estimated cost: $220,000) in addition to $475,000 already included in the Mayor/Management proposed FY17 budget (to cover additional city attorney minimum wage work and public outreach.) Mungo didn't immediately accept Gonzalez's friendly amendment, waiting to hear how other Councilmembers would weigh-in.

Councilwoman Price argued that the city doesn't appear to have the power to adjudicate minimum wage enforcement issues (handled by the state's Dept. of Industrial Relations) and Price established in a colloquy with Ass't City Attorney Mike Mais that the City Attorney's office hasn't yet analyzed SB 3 to determine what cities can or can't do under the new state law. Price then recommended that the money suggested by Councilwoman Gonzalez be put aside but not specifically budgeted...which didn't satisfy Gonzalez or Vice Mayor Richardson or Councilmembers Uranga or Pearce.

Councilwoman Mungo ultimately agreed to accept Councilwoman Gonzalez's "friendly amendment" and Price (who stressed that she supported raising the minimum wage) joined in voting for the net result: the city will dump its previous Council-majority set local minimum wage levels, align itself with the state legislature's statewide minimum wage increases. However the Council also plans to budget $700,000 (up from $475,000) in FY17 (with budget votes coming Sept. 13) to cover wage theft, city attorney services and public outreach without knowing for now what the city can or can't do on minimum wage matters and without knowing for now from where the additional $220,000 will come (leaving that for city management budget staff to find over the next week, plus a forthcoming memo from the City Attorney's office.)

Under SB 3 (the Sac'to enacted statewide law), CA's minimum wage will become $10.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2017 (it's currently $10/hr.) On Jan. 1, 2018, it becomes $11/hr; 2019 = $12/hr, 2020 = $13/hr; 2021 = $14/hr; 2022 = $15/hr, the goal sought by labor advocates.

Several of the Council's frequent labor-aligned Councilmembers said Long Beach had "led the way" for Sacramento to act...but in truth LB's Mayor/Council delayed enacting its local minimum wage ordinance after a number of other CA cities (including L.A.) had already done so. For a lengthy period, Mayor Garcia (who has no vote, only a veto that six Councilmembers can override) remained non-committal, then supported slower and lower minimum wage increases favored by LB's Economic Development Commission, but after labor interests continued to press for an eventual $15/hr minimum wage and a LB Council majority approved a "pathway" to $15/hr, Garcia approved the result, calling the process "the Long Beach Way." Nine months later, that's history.

Additional text included indicating the statewide minimum wage rates added Sept. 8, 8:40 a.m. .