Steve Metzer
Tulsa World Capitol Bureau Staff Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahomans may soon have a chance to sign an initiative petition to raise the state’s minimum wage to well above the current $7.25 an hour.
Amber England, a representative of Raise the Wage Oklahoma, said Wednesday that she expects a “robust” signature collection effort in all 77 counties of the state. Oklahoma Secretary of State Josh Cockroft hasn’t yet set a date to begin collection, but England said the process could begin as early as next month.
If 92,262 signatures of registered voters are received and any future legal challenges are averted, Oklahomans would decide in an upcoming statewide election whether the minimum wage should be increased.
The number of signatures required to qualify initiatives for the ballot in Oklahoma is tied to the total votes cast for governor in the last gubernatorial election.
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The State Chamber of Oklahoma and Oklahoma Farm Bureau earlier objected to the petition and asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to declare what it proposes unconstitutional. However, the court ruled this week that signature collection may go forward.
If voters answer yes to State Question 832, the state’s minimum wage would be decoupled from the federal minimum wage, and state employers would have to pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025. The minimum wage would increase to $10.50 beginning in 2026, then to $12 per hour in 2027. It would increase to $13.50 in 2028 and to $15 per hour beginning in 2029.
Thereafter, further increases to Oklahoma’s minimum wage would be linked to the cost of living as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
The Farm Bureau and State Chamber asked the court to rule that making future increases to the state’s minimum wage contingent on federal data would violate the Oklahoma Constitution. Raise the Wage Oklahoma countered that other laws in the state, including the Oklahoma Quality Jobs Act championed by the State Chamber, rely on federal Consumer Price Index data in their implementation.
Beyond the question of constitutionality, the chamber also objected to SQ 832 as “an unnecessary solution in search of a problem that doesn’t exist in Oklahoma.”
“The market rate for an hourly job in Oklahoma is far above $7.25,” Chamber President Chad Warmington said. “All the businesses that we have as members are having trouble finding people. They are paying far above that wage.”
England said data show that Oklahoma ranks near the bottom among states, at 47th, when it comes to numbers of low-wage workers and that at least 170,000 working Oklahomans make less than $11 an hour. Two-thirds of those who make minimum wage in the state are women, she said.
Opponents also have argued that mandates that would more than double the minimum wage would be bad for businesses and would likely force many to lay people off. The Farm Bureau has said a higher minimum wage would be too costly for farm and ranch operations to bear, which would cause negative effects throughout the state’s rural economy.
England noted that the minimum wage proposal includes exemptions for small businesses and farm operations.
Warmington said it would make more sense to invest in workforce development, which would be good for businesses small and large, potentially attract new businesses to the state and increase wages by providing people with more marketable skills.
“There are thousands of good jobs paying far more than minimum wage, but we don’t have enough personnel with those talents to fill the jobs,” he said. “We’d like to focus more on developing and ensuring that Oklahomans have access to the education, training and certifications that they need to fill the thousands of jobs that pay far more than minimum wage.”
Raise the Wage Oklahoma has received almost exclusively positive feedback from Oklahomans, England said, and many have volunteered to take part in collecting signatures.
“Lots of folks have been reaching out asking how they can help,” she said. “So many understand the gravity of this and what’s on the line. The minimum wage hasn’t increased in 15 years, and to say $7.25 an hour is all that people need to get by is just ridiculous.”
Oklahoma is one of 20 states where the minimum wage remains $7.25.
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