Governor Deval Patrick has signed a law raising Massachusetts’ $8 per hour minimum wage to $11 per hour — a high among U.S. states — by 2017.
During a Statehouse ceremony on Thursday Patrick said the new law would provide some relief to low-income workers, while noting it would still not be a "livable wage" for many Massachusetts residents.
The Democrat has long made raising the wage a goal which he noted in his state of the commonwealth address in January.
“Raising the minimum wage would bring a little relief to the working poor,” Patrick said during the speech.
The first increase in the minimum wage, to $9 an hour, will take effect on Jan. 1.
Activists had gathered some 350,000 signatures around the state to put a minimum wage increase on the ballot had the law not been passed.
President Barack Obama praised Massachusetts lawmakers last week for "standing up for working men and women."
The measure also would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers, such as restaurant servers.
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