Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Friday signed Senate Bill 2609 (Act 82), a measure that incrementally increases the state’s minimum wage rate to $10.10 an hour from $7.25 over the next four years.

Act 82 increases the state’s minimum wage rate to $7.75 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015; $8.50 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2016; $9.25 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2017; and $10.10 per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2018. It also raises the tip credit to 50 cents per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2015, and 75 cents per hour beginning Jan. 1, 2016, as long as the combined amount the employee receives in wages and tips is at least $7 more than the applicable minimum wage beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

“A hardworking sector of our community has gone seven years without a raise,” Abercrombie said. “This legislation will raise Hawaii’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, providing our lowest-paid workers with the economic stability and security they deserve.”

And in California, the minimum wage rises one dollar to $9 per hour effective July 1. The law raises the minimum wage in two one-dollar increments: to $9 per hour effective July 1, 2014, and to $10 per hour effective Jan. 1, 2016.

The Los Angeles Times reports the focus of campaigns to boost the minimum wage have shifted to the local level. To read the article, click here.