State Question 832 will be decided by voters during the June 16 election and if approved, it would raise minimum wage in the state.
According to the ballot, the measure amends the Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act (OMWA) under the Oklahoma statutes to increase the state minimum wage. Employers must pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025, increasing $1.50 annually for a final rate of $15 per hour in 2029. Beginning in 2030 and continuing indefinitely, the minimum wage would automatically increase annually based on the increase in the cost of living, if any, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, the minimum wage increase would continue with any successor agency or index.
The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
Rick Farmer, Ph.D., Dean of the J. Rufus Fears Fellowship, visited Durant last week to speak to the Rotary Club about the state question, and he stopped by the Durant Democrat that afternoon. Farmer is a writer for the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and served as director of committee staff at the Oklahoma House of Representatives, deputy insurance commissioner, and director of the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission.
He has appeared on CNN, NBC, MSNBC, C-SPAN, BBC Radio, and various local news outlets. His comments are quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, and numerous local newspapers. He is the author of more than 30 academic chapters and articles and the co-editor of four books.
Farmer is opposed to State Question 832, and he said it would not be good for Oklahoma’s economy.
“It seems like it’s a modest raise at first,” Farmer said. “It’s $12 an hour in ‘27 and $13.50 in ‘28 and $15 in ‘29 and they’re advertising it as a $15 minimum wage, but it doesn’t stop there. It keeps on going up forever. So, starting in 2030, it’s based on an urban CPI, and it goes up every year and so soon enough, it will be $20 an hour, $25. The State Chamber estimates that in about 15 years it will be $30 an hour and that would just be devastating to our small businesses.”
According to Farmer, the real problem is the never-ending escalator in the state question.
“It just keeps going up forever,” Farmer said. “That’s the biggest problem. I talk to a lot of employers who say, ‘Oh, you know, we pay 12 bucks an hour. We’re paying $14 an hour. That’s what the market is. It’s not really a problem.’” Farmer said that in 2029, the minimum wage would be $15 per hour and in 2030, it will be based on the urban wage earners index which will keep pushing it up forever. He also said it will hurt consumers.
“It will drive up costs for the employers which then will force them to raise prices on the consumers,” Farmer said. “So, I think that we definitely see increases in costs, especially for those employers that use entry level employees. So, like the grocery stores hire high school kids to chase carts and clean the floors and those kinds of things and those businesses that are using those most entry level positions are the ones that are going to get squeezed the most and so it’s going to affect costs.”
Another aspect that Farmer said most people don’t think about is how it will affect city and county governments.
“Where’s the money going to come from for them to pay their employees and then how is that going to affect us as taxpayers,” Farmer said. “So, either they’re going to have to mow the parks less often or they’re going to have to ask to raise taxes. So, one way or the other, we’re either going to lose services or we’re going to see our taxes go up. So, this question about consumer, the raising of costs is more than just about consumers, it’s also about city and county government and the school. Everything that’s funded with tax dollars is going to see this squeeze.”
Asked if he would be in favor of any minimum wage increase, Farmer said, “I think there would be a very different conversation to be had if it didn’t have this never-ending escalator, but it does have this never-ending escalator in it and so that’s what our big concern is.”
According to Farmer, most business owners are already paying $12 to $14 an hour and in some places, the minimum pay is $10 to $12 per hour.
“But there’s not hardly anybody that’s paying minimum wage and in fact, I’ve never met someone who could name someone who’s making minimum wage,” Farmer said.
Farmer said there is a team of people speaking all over the state to inform people about the state question.
He thinks many people don’t fully realize what the state question will do if it is passed.
“So, even if you know that this petition’s been circulated, this is part of the conversation but realizing that it’s coming in just a matter of just a few weeks and then also, this never-ending escalator, I think it’s caught a lot of people off guard,” Farmer said. “That part of it, it’s not being talked about very much. So, the proponents are advertising it as a $15 an hour minimum wage, but it’s not that at all. It’s 12, then it’s 13.50, then it’s 15 and then it just keeps going up forever. That’s the concern.”
Farmer is also concerned on how it would affect the state’s economy.
“Oklahoma’s economy is growing faster than the national average,” Farmer said. “Our cost of living is well below the average for the nation, and our wages are being pushed up by market forces. We don’t need to lock in this never-ending escalator to make that happen.”