The Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 4 to delay a $30 hourly minimum wage for hotel and airport workers by 18 months, pushing the effective date from 2028 to January 2030, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Underlying the deal was a threat from a coalition of airline and hotel companies that had collected sufficient signatures to put a tax repeal question before voters on Nov. 3 — a move that would have targeted the gross receipts tax, the second-biggest source of revenue in the city's budget, according to the Times. In exchange for the delay, the coalition agreed to withdraw that ballot measure. According to city officials, passage of the measure would have cost the general fund $740 million in year one, with losses climbing to an average of $860 million per year over the following five years.
Workers will see their pay climb to $25 per hour this July, with further step increases scheduled until the $30 target is reached in January 2030. An hourly healthcare contribution was also restructured under the vote, with airport workers set to receive $8.15 starting in July 2027 and hotel workers $4.25 effective July 1 of this year, according to the Times. Because the vote was not unanimous, the measure will require a second vote.