Joint committee amends and endorses LPA requirement for county-involved hotel projects

A Montgomery County joint committee on government operations, fiscal policy and economic development unanimously recommended an amended version of Bill 22-25 on labor peace agreements for hotel development projects, the committees heard on a single-item agenda.

The bill would require employers at hotel or conference center projects to enter into labor peace agreements when the county has a proprietary interest in the project, to avoid strikes, lockouts or other labor actions that might affect the county’s financial stake, legislative staffer Ms. Wellens told the joint committee.

The committee removed a broadly worded “catchall” provision that would have let the chief administrative officer (CAO) require labor peace agreements in any instance the CAO determined the county had a ‘‘significant and ongoing economic and nonregulatory interest.’’ Councilmember Friedson moved to strike the paragraph; Councilmember Balcom seconded, and the committees voted unanimously to delete that subparagraph.

The committee also narrowed the bill’s trigger language. Sponsors amended the definition of the county’s financial test, replacing the…