Sacramento Law and Legislation Committee Meeting – June 20, 2023
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Sacramento Law and Legislation Committee Meeting – June 20, 2023
The Sacramento Law and Legislation Committee met on June 20, 2023, at 1:01 p.m. in City Hall Council Chamber, chaired by Councilmember Katie Valenzuela. The meeting covered a consent calendar, a healthcare worker minimum wage ordinance, and a councilmember proposal for support of various LGBTQ+-related bills, along with public comments and committee remarks. The meeting adjourned at 2:31 p.m.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of May 16, 2023 meeting minutes (File ID 2023-00851) – Motion passed unanimously.
- Approval of Law and Legislation Log (File ID 2022-02185) – Motion passed unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
Item 3 – Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance
- Supporters (healthcare workers, patients, union representatives): Stressed that many healthcare workers earn below $25/hour, forcing them to work multiple jobs, sleep in cars, or leave the profession. They argued the wage floor would improve staffing, patient care, and worker dignity. Specific testimonies included a Kaiser optician who described a coworker living in a car; a Sutter hospital worker who cited losing colleagues to higher-paying jobs; and a patient who noted high turnover at community clinics due to low pay.
- Opponents (hospital associations, chambers of commerce, clinic administrators, physicians): Argued the ordinance would cost Sacramento hospitals an estimated $47 million annually, force service cuts, and endanger small clinics and nursing homes. Speakers from the Greater Sacramento Economic Council, Hospital Council of Northern California, Sacramento Metro Chamber, and UC Davis Health warned of distorted labor markets, reduced access for vulnerable populations, and potential closure of facilities. Several called for an economic and health impact study before proceeding.
Item 4 – Councilmember Proposal for Support of LGBTQ+ Bills
- Evan Minton (speaking as an advocate) expressed strong support for the package, citing increased hate crimes (20% surge against trans individuals) and the need for local solidarity during Pride Month.
Discussion Items
Item 3 – Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance
- Staff (Consuelo Hernandez, Director of Governmental Affairs) presented background: similar ordinances exist in other California cities targeting $25/hour; state bill SB 525 is pending. The item was a request for direction from Chair Valenzuela.
- Committee debate: Chair Valenzuela proposed directing staff to bring the ordinance back in September after stakeholder outreach and monitoring SB 525. Vice Mayor Guerra and Councilmember Jennings favored requiring a full economic and health impact study (possibly a consultant-led analysis) before returning, citing concerns about single-city impacts and unintended consequences on small providers, FQHCs, and the regional economy. Councilmember Kaplan agreed, noting the need to understand city employee wage implications and effects on school districts. The committee ultimately directed staff to conduct a comprehensive regional economic and health impact study and bring the item back once that analysis is complete, without a specific date.
Item 4 – Councilmember Proposal for Support of Various Bills
- Councilmember Valenzuela presented a package of LGBTQ+-related bills (outside the city’s normal legislative platform). Councilmember Kaplan made a motion to forward the package to City Council under option 2 (direct referral without further committee review).
- Councilmember Jennings expressed concern about AB 957 (parental rights in custody cases regarding gender identity) and requested separate consideration. The committee agreed to split the package: all bills except AB 957 were moved forward on a voice vote (unanimous). Then AB 957 was moved separately; it passed 3-1 (Jennings opposed), with Jennings citing lack of time to research the bill’s potential impact.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar: Approved unanimously.
- Healthcare Worker Minimum Wage Ordinance (Item 3): Staff directed to conduct a full economic and health impact study (may involve consultant contract) and return to committee after completion. No immediate ordinance action.
- LGBTQ+ Bill Support (Item 4):
- All bills except AB 957: Motion passed unanimously to forward to City Council for consideration without further committee review.
- AB 957: Motion passed 3-1 (Jennings voting no) to forward to City Council.
- Committee Comments: Vice Mayor Guerra requested staff to include firearm storage cost recovery in gun safety legislation. Councilmember Kaplan announced upcoming sideshow ordinance proposal to be fast-tracked at the August 15 Law and Legislation Committee meeting. Councilmember Jennings expressed support for Kaplan’s sideshow proposal.
- Public Comments – Matters Not on the Agenda: Barry Boyd voiced support for a sideshow ordinance and noted Manteca’s recent ordinance as a model.
Meeting Transcript
The door is popped open. Good afternoon. I'd like to call this meeting of the Sacramento Law and Legislation Committee to order. Will the clerk please call the roll to establish a quorum? Thank you. Councilmember Kaplan. Here. Councilmember Jennings. Councilmember Gada. Here. And Chair Valenzuela. Here. I will ask the vice chair if he would lead us in the land acknowledgement and pledge of allegiance, please. Everyone, please still. The opening acknowledgments in honor of Sacramento's indigenous people and tribal lands to the original people of this land, the Nision people, the Southern Maidu people, the Valley and Plains, Miwok, Paton and Witten peoples, and the people of the Wilton Rancheria, Sacramento's only federally recognized tribe. May we acknowledge and honor the Native people who came before us and still walk beside us today on these ancestral land by choosing to gather together today in the active practice of acknowledgement and appreciation for Sacramento's indigenous people's history, contribution, and lives. Join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, Vice Chair. All right, excited to have a full room today to talk about exciting things. Um if you are here today to provide public comment, I want to make sure that you fill out a speaker slip. If you don't already have one, they are in the back of the room and up here with the clerk. Please turn them in to the clerk before the item begins its public comment. We will cut off new public comment signups after the first public commenter is done. And if you are on Zoom, you can use the raise hand feature to also put yourself in the queue, and we will take your comments after we take the comments from those folks in the room. Um so today we will start quickly by dispensing with our consent calendar. We have two items on this calendar. Do I have any questions or comments from the committee? Motion. Any public comment? Oh, any public comment. Thank you. Thank you. Second, thank you. Motion by the vice chair, second by council member Kaplan. All in favor, please say aye. Opposed, abstentions. That passes unanimously. All right, so we are moving right along to item number three, consideration for adopting an ordinance relating to health care worker minimum wage in the city of Sacramento. I believe that our staff here, Consuelo Hernandez is no, is the presenter for this item or somebody else. That's okay too. Um this item was uh presented as a request from um the chair, council member of Valenzuela, uh, and we are requesting um direction to staff on whether to uh consider a health care worker minimum wage ordinance in the city of Sacramento. Um there's out there's background um provided in the staff report itself. There have been um cities in California that have passed either through a vote of the governing body or um have pending ballot measures uh that would increase the uh health care worker minimum wage. Uh the goal is to get it to 25 dollars per hour. Uh the uh it is noteworthy that there is legislation pending before the state legislature at this time. Um it's Senate Bill 525, um, which would increase um as of June 1st, 2024, the health care minimum wage to 25 dollars per hour. There's uh an additional step prior to that to increase it to 21 dollars per hour.
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