A $15 minimum wage bill is going to California Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature:
The Senate voted 26 to 12 — with loud cheers of "Si se puede" from the gallery above — to give final approval and send the meausre to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk less than one week after the legislature compromise was reached on the matter.
"At its core this proposal is about fairness," Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León said just before the vote. "This is historic and today I am proud to be a Californian."
The plan passed the state Assembly earlier in the day 48 to 26, receiving broad support from Democratic lawmakers who called the compromise effort an important step forward for California. No Assembly Republicans voted in favor of the increase.
It’s not perfect—the bill is a deal spurred by a ballot measure that would have gotten to $15 more quickly—but it is historic and it will raise wages for millions of workers in the state. And it would not have happened without organizing by low-wage workers.