Gov. Deval Patrick signed Massachusetts’ minimum wage bill into law. The law will increase the minimum wage to $11/hour by the end of 2017.

Currently, workers are paid a minimum wage of $8/hour. Workers will be paid a minimum wage of $9/hour in 2015, followed by an increase to $10/hour in 2016, and an increase of $11/hour in 2017.

In response to the bill passing, Patrick said, “Raising the minimum wage brings a little relief to the working poor, many of whom do jobs we could not live without and who recycle money right back into the economy. By signing this bill, we show the Nation that opportunity can and must be spread outward, not just upward.”