Oklahoma minimum wage hike gains momentum with over 180,000 signatures

Could minimum wage be on the rise in Oklahoma? Supporters of the group dropped off the required signatures Monday morning.

Petitioners, organized by the group Raise the Wage Oklahoma, seek to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2029.

On Monday at the Oklahoma Secretary of State’s office, supporters turned in more than double the signatures required, with a reported 180,000 signatures, far surpassing the 92,263 needed to get the measure to voters.

Now the Secretary’s Office must verify the count.

State Question 832, proposed for a state-wide vote in November, would increase the minimum wage to $9 an hour in 2025 from the current $7.25 an hour, the same as the federal minimum wage.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court declared the petition was constitutional after being challenged by the Oklahoma Farm Bureau and State Chamber.

Amber England, speaking on behalf of Raise the Wage Oklahoma added that more than 320,000 Oklahomans will get a pay raise if the measure passes.

However, the State Chamber says this would simply be bad business.

“This is a disastrous policy that will crush working families through price increases on the heels of record inflation,” said Ben Lepak, State Chamber Research Foundation executive director. “This ballot initiative is bad for workers, bad for business, and bad for Oklahoma, and we are confident the voters of the State of Oklahoma will concur with our position.”