California currently has a minimum wage of $8 per hour, which only four states and the District of Columbia have a rate higher than. The current national minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, and is also the minimum wage in 23 states. The proposed bill, which has received support from both the state?s Assembly Speaker and the state Senate President as well as Governor Jerry Brown, would raise the state minimum wage to $9 per hour on July 1, 2014, and then to $10 per hour on January 1, 2016. Both state legislative chambers and the governor are Democrats. Those opposing the bill call it a job killer.
See "Top California Lawmakers Back Raising Minimum Wage", Ian Lovett, The New York Times, September 11, 2013