The state’s minimum wage will increase $1.25, as called for by Assembly Bill 1835. It will happen in two phases. On January 1st, a $.75 cent increase will move it up to $7.50. A year later, on January 1st, 2008, a 50-cent bump will make it $8 an hour…the highest in the nation.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a press release that raising the minimum wage is something he’s wanted to do for a long time. However, a proposed one-dollar hike in the minimum wage in 2004, saying it would reverse the state’s economic momentum … and vetoed another proposed increase in 2005. The U.S. Census Bureau says more than 1 million workers earn the minimum wage in California.