UPDATE: The Assembly passed the minimum wage bill Thursday night, sending it to Governor Brown's desk.
State lawmakers are on the verge of passing a law that could make California's minimum wage law the highest in the country.

The Senate passed a bill increasing the minimum wage to $10 this afternoon, and the Assembly is expected to follow suit tonight. The measure is just one of hundreds of bills being sent to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk on the final day of California’s 2013 legislative session.
At $8 an hour, California’s minimum wage is already the eighth-highest rate in the country. AB10 bumps it to $9 next July and then to $10 in 2016.
Brown rarely wades into legislative debates, but on Wednesday his office sent out a press release endorsing the bill. “The minimum wage has not kept pace with rising costs,” Brown said in a statement.“This legislation is overdue and will help families that are struggling in this harsh economy.”