Plan to raise California minimum wage to US$15 passes in key committee

[SACRAMENTO] A plan to raise California's minimum wage to US$15 passed its first legislative hurdle on Wednesday, clearing a key legislative committee and putting the state on track to become the first in the nation to commit to such a large raise for the working poor.

If passed by the full legislature, California governor Jerry Brown's plan would commit the state, home to one of the world's biggest economies, to raising the minimum wage to US$15 an hour from the current US$10 by 2022 for large businesses and 2023 for smaller firms.

REUTERS