ShareThisBy JUDY LIN and CLEA BENSON
Racing to meet a midnight Thursday deadline, lawmakers Wednesday plowed through dozens of bills, sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a measure to change the way presidents are elected.
The Senate approved raising the state's minimum wage to $8, giving California's lowest-paid workers a $1.25 pay raise over the next two years. The Senate voted 25-13.
Assembly Bill 1835 now goes to the Assembly for concurrence in Senate amendments.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to sign the bill under a deal struck with Democrats, who had sought future increases tied to inflation.
The state's current minimum wage is $6.75. The bill calls for a 50-cent increase in January 2007, followed by a 75-cent raise in January 2008.
Labor leaders hailed the increase as a victory for workers as the minimum wage increase places California among the highest-paying states in the nation.
Business groups, including restaurants, oppose the pay hike, saying it would be a detriment to the economy.
Lawmakers also sent the governor a bill that is part of a national effort to elect the president by popular vote instead of by the electoral college.
Assembly Bill 2948, written by Santa Ana Democrat Tom Umberg, would require California electors to cast their electoral college votes for the candidate who wins the majority of the popular vote nationwide. Currently, California's electoral college votes go to the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state.
The bill would only go into effect if enough other states enact similar laws to control a majority of the 538 Electoral College votes.
Lawmakers were expected to work long hours Wednesday and Thursday to finish up for the year. Among bills still pending are measures to regulate greenhouse gases, ban hand-held cell phones while driving, ease prison overcrowding and allow phone companies to compete for cable television business.
