Calif. lawmakers hike minimum wage, Brown to sign

SACRAMENTO, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The California legislature approved a bill that would increase the state's minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016, lawmakers said.

The bill was approved and sent to Gov. Jerry Brown, who has said he would sign it, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The bill would raise the current $8 minimum wage to $9 by next July and to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.

The 25 percent hike would be the first increase in the minimum wage in five years.

The Assembly passed the measure Thursday in a 51-25 vote. Earlier Thursday, the Senate passed the bill in a 26-11 vote.

Labor unions lobbied for the passage of the bill, the Times said, while business groups opposed it, the Times said.

Jot Condie, the president of the California Restaurant Association, said many of the group's members would likely cut back employees' hours and reduce hiring to deal with the extra minimum wage costs.

But Louis Benitez, a waiter, as well as other employees, said the money will assist them with paying rent and buying food.

Currently California has the eighth-highest minimum wage in the country.