California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. signed legislation yesterday to raise the state’s minimum wage to $10 per hour from $8 per hour by 2016. 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.

“It’s a special day to stand with workers who are laboring for all of us and laboring at a very low wage. Turning that wage into a $10 an hour wage is a wonderful thing,” said Governor Brown prior to signing the law in Los Angeles.

However, Assembly Republican leader Connie Conway said employers will have to cut hours and hire fewer workers to cover the costs of this increase, Reuters reported. To read the story, click here.