California Approves $10 Minimum Wage

Legislation would increase the state's minimum wage of $8 an hour to $10 by 2016.

September 16, 2013

SACRAMENTO – California Gov. Jerry Brown has already indicated he will sign into law a bill that boosts the state’s hourly minimum wage rate of $8 to $10 by 2016, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The state Legislature approved the bill last week, which is the first minimum-wage hike in California in five years.

The California Chamber of Commerce led a coalition of more than 24 business organizations that called the bill a “job killer,” warning that higher wages could increase the unemployment rate and jeopardize California's economic recovery.

"This is an unprecedented wage hike," Jot Condie, president of the California Restaurant Association, told the newspaper, noting that many of the state's 87,000 eateries would have to cut back on employees' hours and reduce hiring.

Washington has the highest minimum wage rate at $9.19 an hour, followed by Oregon ($8.95) and Vermont ($8.60). Only 19 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws setting a local minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25 an hour.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement