I still remember the day the letter came in the mail telling me I made too much money for food stamps.
I was working and going to school, trying to keep my head above water for a few tough months. I didn’t make enough to cover all my bills, but I made just enough to be denied help. My only option was to pick up another job and push through. That season was hard, but it changed how I think about work, wages, and what really helps people move forward.
Today, as someone who has gone from the bottom of the service industry to supervising in the non-profit world, I’ve seen both sides of the paycheck. That’s why I have serious concerns about State Question 832 and will be voting no.
I want to be clear: I don’t pretend anyone can support a life in Oklahoma on $8.50 an hour. I’ve been close to that line myself. But the path that changed my life was not a statewide wage mandate. It was gaining skills, taking every opportunity I could, and learning how the economy actually works on the ground.
In the F&B world, I watched a casual sit-down restaurant survive only by making painful choices. When times were slow, they cut hours. The owner took home less. Everyone in that building— kitchen, servers, bussers, host, manager—played a different role with different responsibilities and different pay. The system worked when people were paid based on their output, their skill, and their willingness to hustle, not just for showing up. Raising the minimum wage in a blanket way would not have magically made that restaurant healthier; it would have squeezed an already thin margin and forced even tougher decisions.
Different jobs and industries pay different wages for real reasons. A nurse in one state can earn far more than a nurse in another because local costs, demand, and labor markets are different. Wages are not random; they’re tied to skills, responsibilities, and regional economics. I worry that SQ 832 ignores those realities by trying to set one rigid floor for everybody and then locking it to a formula far beyond Oklahoma’s control.
My biggest concern is not the idea of ever raising wages. It’s what happens when we hand over our wage decisions to an automatic system. SQ 832 doesn’t just raise the minimum wage over the next few years; it then ties future increases to a national inflation index on autopilot. Once that switch is flipped, Oklahoma voters and lawmakers lose the ability to pause, adjust, or rethink when conditions on the ground change. We move from self government to government by formula.
I’m also concerned about those trying their hardest to enter the workforce: young people, workers with limited skills, and people living with disabilities. In my current role, we assist disabled people and veterans whose incomes are intertwined with strict federal rules. If wages jump by law but their capabilities and benefit limits do not, some may end up earning just enough to lose support but not enough to stand on their own. That is a trap, not a blessing.
On the employer side, especially for small businesses, mandated jumps in labor costs can mean fewer positions, more automation, or more pressure to sell to larger national chains that can absorb the hit. The big players often survive and even expand under heavy regulation. It’s the small local operations— the ones that know your name when you walk in—that find themselves squeezed out.
I don’t question the motives of people who support SQ 832. Wanting higher pay for hard work is natural and right. However, I believe this particular measure is the wrong tool. It risks shrinking the number of entry level opportunities, straining the small businesses that anchor our communities, and taking decisions about Oklahoma’s economic future out of Oklahoma hands.
There is a better way to lift people up. Instead of a one size fits all wage mandate with automatic indexing, Okla- homa should invest in targeted training subsidies that help low wage workers move into higher value roles. That means state backed support to help people earn credentials in high demand fields, with employers at the table so training leads to real jobs, not just paper. It means partnering with libraries, community colleges, and non profits to create free or affordable pathways where effort and preparation are rewarded with higher pay the market can actually sustain.
I’m voting no on SQ 832 not because I’m against workers earning more, but because I want more Oklahomans to earn more the right way: Through growth, skills, and opportunity that last. We should protect both: Working families and small businesses. To keep our wage decisions where they belong, in the hands of the people of Oklahoma.