Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that will raise California’s minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, a move celebrated by workers but criticized by many businesses.
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.
Brown put his name on the legislation at the Ronald Reaganbuilding in downtown Los Angeles, surrounded by beaming workers and under a banner that read, “Helping working families.”