Minimum Wage
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 12 signed into law legislation that eventually will raise the minimum wage from $6.75 to $8 an hour. More than 1.4 million workers will see a 75 cents an hour increase in January, raising the hourly minimum wage to $7.50. On Jan. 1, 2008, it rises 50 cents more. The legislation represented a compromise between Schwarzenegger and California Democrats, who were seeking annual automatic increases while the governor supported a flat $1 an hour. California joins Massachusetts in having one of the nation’s highest minimum wages.
