State Question 832, the $15 Minimum Wage Initiative, will appear on the June 2026 ballot in Oklahoma, and I plan to vote for it.
If passed, the measure would increase the minimum wage to $12 per hour in 2027, $13.50 in 2028, and $15 in 2029.
Beginning in 2030, the wage would be adjusted based on changes to inflation.
Minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, and it has been at that level in our state since 2009. Is there anything else in our economy that has stayed at the same level for the past 17 years?
Opposition to raising the minimum wage is led by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, who argue that raising the minimum wage will cause prices to go up on everything people buy and that such price increases “will put corner stores and family farms out of business.”
Well, duh. One could make that same argument about anything that causes price increases. Take the current illegal war with Iran, for example (illegal because Congress has never voted to authorize it as required by the U. S. Constitution—Trump simply went to war without asking Congress for authorization, as he was legally required to do).
The resulting closure of the Strait of Hormuz has increased prices on everything that is oil-related (such as fertilizer used by farmers) and everything that is transported using gasoline or diesel.
At least increasing the minimum wage would benefit low-wage workers and their families. I personally would rather see the added money going to my fellow citizens who work hard day by day than to oil companies and their shareholders.
Minimum-wage workers in Oklahoma are among the lowest-paid in the nation, being one of 20 states that use the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25. The other 30 states have voted for state minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage.
The average state minimum wage in this country in 2026 is $11.51 (https:// ballotpedia.org/Oklahoma_ State/_Question_832,_$15_ Minimum_Wage_Initiative_ (June_2026).
Durant recently was paid a visit by Rick Farmer, who is a writer for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a right-wing organization that opposes State Question 832. His argument is that raising the minimum wage “would not be good for Oklahoma’s economy.”
Farmer centered his opposition on the fact that, beginning in 2030, the minimum wage will be based on the inflation rate.
That actually seems fair to me. If a worker sees prices on what he buys going up, but his own paycheck doesn’t keep pace, that worker sees that he is losing ground. What he earns by the sweat of his brow buys less and less.
But if he knows that his wages will increase along with prices, he feels he has a fair shake in life.
Amber England, spokesperson for Raise the Wage Oklahoma, which supports the Yes on SQ832 campaign, notes that passing the measure will “lift the wages of workers doing essential jobs like caring for the most vulnerable among us in nursing homes and hospitals and those working in industries that care for Oklahoma’s young children in childcare.”
People who earn minimum wage are human beings, and they do jobs that are vital to our society’s functioning well. Why should they be treated as if they somehow don’t matter as much as people who work in other jobs?