Gov. Jerry Brown signed a minimum wage bill Wednesday authored by Assemblymember Luis Alejo, D-Salinas.
The bill would raise the minimum wage from $8 an hour to $9 an hour by July 1, 2014, and then raise it again to $10 an hour by January 1, 2016.
“With over 60 percent of our minimum wage workers 26-years-old or older, we have created a system where we pay workers less but need them to spend more,” said Alejo in a statement.
Early this month, the State Legislature passed the bill with wide support, with the Senate approving the bill with a 26-11 vote and the Assembly approving it with a 51-25 vote.
An increase to $9 hourly would put California at No. 2 on the list of states with the highest minimum wages in the nation. Washington has the highest, at $9.19 an hour. Once the $10 hourly wage kicks into gear in 2016, unless other states also raise their minimum wages, California will have the highest minimum wage in the nation.
