$10 Miniumum Wage: Californina Legistlature Approves Rise In Hourly Wage; LA Business Groups Say Hike Is 'Obscene'

California State Legislature has passed a bill onto Gov. Jerry Brown that would raise the state minimum wage to $10 an hour. The bill would raise the minimum wage in a three-year period and was approved Thursday evening. Brown announced that he would be signing it into law this week. The California minimum wage, currently set at $8 an hour, would be hiked to $9 by July 1, 2014. The $10 minimum wage would take effect Jan. 1, 2016. The 25 percent wage hike is the first in five years for the state. "This is the time to raise the minimum wage to provide relief for hard-working families," Assemblyman and author of the bill Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, said.

The bill received a final approval vote of 51-25 after long bouts of lobbying by labor and business groups. The governor has long been an advocate for a minimum wage hike, to the chargrin of business groups who called the raise "obscene" and a "job killer." Business groups maintained that the bill would raise the minimum wage too quickly over too short a period of time. Brown, however, said the raise couldn't come fast enough. "The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs," said Brown. "This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy."

Jot Condie, president of the California Restaurant Association would have averse effects on both employers and employees. He predicted that employers would have to deal with the increase by cutting back employee hours at the more than 87,000 eateries in the state. Laborers, however, said the bill is just the start and would continue to fight for a $15 minimum wage. California currently boasts the eighth-highest minimum wage in the country, trailing states like Washington, which has the highest minimum wage in the country at $9.16, followed by Oregon at $8.95 and Vermont at $8.60. Nevada, Connecticut, the District of Columbia and Illinois are all pegged at $8.60 an hour. All states are required to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25, which was set in 2009.