Judge rebukes 'living wage' ordinance

This was the replacement ordinance passed by the L.A. City Council that requires LAX-area hotel operators to pay their workers the city's "living wage" ($10.64 an hour). L.A. business interests railed against the original measure and gathered enough signatures to qualify a referendum. The council didn't want any of that, so it rescinded the ordinance and replaced it with a new one. But that ordinance was essentially the same as the old one. Well, Superior Court Judge David Yaffe not only blocked enforcement of the law, but accused the mayor and council of "bad faith" in passing the ordinance. From the LAT:

"The elected representatives who enacted the new ordinance tried to make it appear different from the old ordinance," Yaffe wrote in his eight-page order, "but their purpose was to avoid the effect of the referendum petition, not to respect it." The practical impact of the ruling is unclear. Under state law, a council that rescinds a law under threat of referendum cannot pass a law doing the same thing for one year. The ruling does not impose any time restriction.

City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who sponsored both ordinances, called Yaffe's ruling "shocking" and urged the city to appeal.