Minimum wage increase signed as expected.
Minimum wage increase signed as expected.
California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the minimum wage increase from $8 to $10 an hour. . This will gradually take place over the next two years, making it one of the highest in the nation.
Shan Li at LA Times said, “The wage hike will go into effect in two phases: The current minimum of $8 an hour will be lifted to $9 on July 1, 2014, and then to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.”
The Mercury News reports, this is the first increase in six years. Passed by the state senate 51-25 Sept. 12 and sent it to the governors desk, which he signed Wednesday as expected.
The governor said it was his “moral responsibility” to give Californians a chance to earn a living wage.
“Our society over the last 30 years … has experienced a growing gap between those who do work at the bottom and those who occupy the commanding heights of the economy,” he said. Reported the LA Times.
Reuters claims, “Democrats in California control large majorities in both houses of the state legislature. But the party has charted a more centrist path than many expected, fearing backlash from voters in moderate and conservative districts, and the minimum wage hike did not initially seem poised to pass.”
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-minimum-wage-20130926,0,1855643.story
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-usa-california-minimumwage-idUSBRE98O0U920130925