Updated

California's minimum wage would rise to $10 an hour within three years under a bill that is all but certain to head to Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday, giving the state one of the highest rates in the nation.

Washington state currently has the top minimum wage at $9.19 an hour, an amount that is pegged to rise with inflation. Some cities, including San Francisco, have slightly higher minimum wages.

The state Senate approved AB10 on a party-line 26-11 vote, sending it to the Assembly for a final vote that will be a mere formality before it goes to the governor. Brown indicated earlier this week that he would sign the bill, calling it an overdue piece of legislation that would help working-class families.

The bill would gradually raise California's minimum wage from the current $8 an hour to $10 by 2016.

It would be the first increase in the state's minimum wage in six years and comes amid a national debate over whether it is fair to pay fast-food workers, retail clerks and others wages so low that they often have to work second or third jobs.

Democrats said the bill by Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville, would help workers left behind during the recent recession. The California Chamber of Commerce fears it would drive up businesses' costs by ratcheting up other wages and workers' compensation payments.

"We have it tagged as a job killer, given the increased costs businesses will be faced with," Jennifer Barrera, an advocate for the chamber, said before the vote.

The bill generated a detailed, statistic-laced, 40-minute debate in the Senate.

"If you give people a couple more dollars an hour ... to spend in their communities, spend it they will. They're not going to put it into a hedge fund," said Sen. Marty Block, D-San Diego.

He added that, "Nothing will make small businesses happier. This will stimulate the economy, as well as helping people's lives."

But Republican lawmakers said it would harm the economy, price low-skilled workers out of the market and encourage businesses to cut jobs and automate.