Gov. Jerry Brown to Sign Minimum Wage Increase Bill

By City News Service and Melanie C. Johnson

Gov. Jerry Brown today will sign legislation that provides for the minimum wage in California to rise from the current $8 per hour to $10 by 2016.

Two signing ceremonies are on the schedule. In the first, the governor will be joined by business owners and legislators as he signs Assembly Bill 10 in the auditorium of the Ronald Reagan State Building on Spring Street in downtown L.A. The second ceremony will take place at noon at the Cypress Mandela Training Center in Oakland.

The new law will have a high impact on California, which is reported to have the nation's largest number of the so-called working poor.

The Regional Chamber of Commerce San Gabriel Valley, which represents Diamond Bar and Walnut, previously has come out against bills to raise the minimum wage.

In 2012, the chamber released a score card on local lawmakers, giving high marks to Sen. Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, and Assemblyman Curt Hagman, R-Chino Hills, for their record on a number of proposed laws including opposition to an increase to the minimum wage.

Huff told the New York Times this month that the combination of the sales tax increase, upcoming changes as a result of the Affordable Care Act, and the proposed minimum wage hike is overwhelming to the business community. He said that the minimum wage increase would be detrimental to business in the state.

“This is just going to drive more jobs out of the state at a time when California can’t afford to do that,” he said.

What do you think about the increase to the minimum wage? Share your thoughts in comments below.