The City Council on Tuesday approved most of a broad affordability package, expanding a cash assistance program for low-income senior renters and moving $23.5 million in Measure GS housing money toward new affordable projects, but declined to introduce an ordinance that would have let workers name someone to collect their final paycheck.
Instead, on a motion by Mayor Caroline Torosis, the council voted 6-0, with Mayor Pro Tem Jesse Zwick absent, to direct the city attorney to fold final paycheck rights into the city's new in-house wage enforcement program and return with options.
The package grew out of a January item brought by Torosis, Councilmember Ellis Raskin and Councilmember Dan Hall directing staff to study ways to lower costs for food, childcare, wages and housing.
The council approved changes to the Preserving Our Diversity, or POD, program, which provides cash help to low-income, longtime renters. The minimum age drops from 65 to 62, the required tenure in a rent-controlled unit falls from 15 to 10 years and eligibility extends to deed-restricted affordable housing. Benefits will also get an annual cost-of-living adjustment tied to the Los Angeles County Consumer Price Index.
Housing and Human Services Director Aileen Reynolds said 29 households that applied in the past year and were rejected would qualify under the new rules, and staff will contact them immediately. A $360,000 budget amendment covers $250,000 for cost-of-living increases through fiscal year 2027-28, $10,000 for outreach and up to $100,000 for a study of expanding the program to families and households with disabilities.
Councilmember Natalya Zernitskaya said she has heard from residents of deed-restricted units facing rent increases of 8% or more a year and asked staff to look at other tools, including checking that those rents stay within required limits.
The council also approved adding up to $23.5 million in Measure GS housing production funds to the Housing Trust Fund guidelines, which will let the city reopen its "over-the-counter" funding process for affordable housing developers in January 2027. Staff will also prioritize an extra $300,000 a year in the 2027-29 budget for food assistance and childcare subsidies through the Human Services Grants Program. Reynolds said subsidies cost $18,000 to $20,000 per child a year, so each $100,000 serves about five more children.
The council authorized staff to begin drafting and outreach on amendments to the Tenant Harassment Ordinance that would expressly prohibit landlords from interfering with tenant organizing.
Staff did not recommend new rules on surveillance pricing or digital-only coupons, citing limited local authority and San Diego's experience, where a grocery chain cut promotions after a coupon ordinance passed. Staff also recommended against a city-run grocery store for now, while negotiating for an affordable grocer at the city-owned affordable housing site at 1318 Fourth Street.
The final paycheck ordinance drew the sharpest split. As drafted, employers would give workers a form at hire and once a year to designate someone to pick up a final paycheck if they are suddenly unable to, including because of immigration detention. It would have taken effect July 1, 2027.
Torosis, who co-authored the original request, said she had researched the issue and talked with labor and business groups. "Quite frankly, I feel that it's a solution in search of a problem," she said. She argued the ordinance would require employers to decide a worker had quit when that person might be temporarily detained, and that state labor law already requires employers to offer an emergency contact form. She said worker groups told her members would be too afraid to fill out such a form, and she objected that each violation would be a strict liability misdemeanor carrying up to $500 and six months in jail.
Raskin pushed back. He described a car wash worker who was detained and ended up in Guatemala three days later, while it took about a week to find a relative to accept his last paycheck. "We have a problem. This is a solution," he said.
Hall also backed the ordinance, saying immigration enforcement has left families struggling to access paychecks and that staff's outreach found Familias Latinas Unidas and the CLEAN Carwash Worker Center strongly in favor. Snell said he was sympathetic but worried about the burden on businesses of annual paperwork.
Torosis also questioned staff's report that city and county enforcement had recovered only about $115,000 in unpaid wages since 2020. "Let's do better," she said.
In public comment, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Shana Epstein said the chamber opposed the paycheck ordinance, citing existing state and federal protections, added regulation for small businesses and legal exposure.