LA committee delays hotel-worker pay ordinance, orders six‑month impact report

The Economic and Workforce Development Committee of the Los Angeles City Council voted to accept reports from city staff and ask the city attorney to revise a draft hotel-worker minimum-wage ordinance, delay its effective date from July 1, 2025, to Jan. 1, 2026, and return a modified ordinance to the full City Council. The committee also instructed the Community Development Agency (CDA) to report back in six months on the ordinance’s impacts on the tourism industry, including any data on business closures, job losses, market analysis and other relevant projections.

The action followed more than an hour of public comment in Spanish and English during a special meeting that drew hotel and airport workers, union representatives and business owners. Supporters urged the committee to adopt the so‑called “Olympic wage” for hotel and airport workers to address rising housing and living costs; opponents warned that the timing and scope of the ordinance risked hotel closures, layoffs and reduced…