California has approved a $15 per hour minimum wage for all workers in the state, becoming the first State in the US to sign the bill into law CNN Money reports.
Both the State Assembly and State Senate passed the measure on Thursday afternoon. Governor Jerry Brown said he would sign it on Monday.
“No one who is working full time in California should live in poverty due to a low wage,” said Democratic State Senator Mark Leno, who cosponsored the bill.
The measure will raise the state’s minimum wage to $10.50 in January and to $11 in January 2018. It will then increase by an additional $1 per hour every year until it reaches $15 in 2022. If, however, the state goes through an economic downturn or budget crisis, the governor may choose to slow the implementation.
The final bill gives small businesses, with 25 or fewer employees, an extra year to implement the increases.
About 5.6 million Californians, or about 32% of the state’s workforce, currently live on the minimum wage, according to Kevin De Leon, the president pro tempore of the state senate.
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