California And New York Both Vote Yes To A $15 Minimum Wage

California and New York have become the first states in America to pass $15 minimum wage laws to go into effect by 2022.

Governors Jerry Brown of California and Andrew Cuomo of New York both reached tentative deals with legislators late Thursday and are expected to sign the bills into law by Monday. Currently, California's minimum wage is $10 per hour, while New York's is $9 per hour.

The legislation will boost wages for about 43 percent of California residents — or about six million people — and in New York would affect approximately two million people, according to the Associated Press. Latinos will benefit the most from the measure.

"This minimum wage increase will be of national significance," Governor Cuomo told reporters. "It's raising the minimum wage in a way that's responsible."

But as we've reported, the measure is a controversial one and businesses are worried they will have to start laying off people or turn to artificial intelligence labor to make up the fiscal difference.

"Just as the benefits of this policy are likely to be greater because it covers a greater share of the work force than for past minimum wage increases, the risk of these costs is also higher," Ben Zipperer, an expert on the minimum wage at the liberal Washington Center for Equitable Growth, told The New York Times. "It's very unclear how that's going to stack up."

The Daily Meal has reached out to fast food chain restaurants, including Taco Bell, McDonald's, Burger King, and Shake Shack, as well as high-end chefs with restaurants in California and New York, including Thomas Keller, Jonathan Waxman, Michael Mina, and Curtis Stone for comments.