City council: Minneapolis' "labor standards board" vote still happening

Three Minneapolis City Council members promised their long-delayed proposal to create a "labor standards board" will get a vote before year's end.

Why it matters: If enacted, the new board would have the power to make influential recommendations for new business regulations regarding worker safety, training, pay and more.

• Labor unions and their allies hope the board could improve conditions for low-wage workers.

State of play: "We're in the 'finishing touches' part," Council Member Aurin Chowdhury told Axios in a joint interview with co-authors and fellow Council Members Aisha Chughtai and Katie Cashman late last month.

Friction point: Many industry groups fear the board could lead to burdensome restrictions for businesses. The absence of publicly available details about the proposal has inflamed those anxieties.

• A final version of the legislation is still not public, but drafts have circulated among insiders for months.

What they're saying: "There's a misconception that the labor standards board is a labor standard itself that will kill business," Chowdhury told Axios.

• "What the labor standards board is — plain and simple — is an advisory board to recommend policy and bring people to the table."

What's next: Authors are still holding meetings with interested parties, including a forthcoming listening session with one particularly nervous group: restaurant owners of color .