Hard work deserves a fair wage. SQ 832 would help make that happen.

After years of inaction by state legislators, Oklahomans took matters into their own hands two years ago and began to gather signatures to put a state question on the ballot and finally raise the minimum wage. This ballot initiative, also known as State Question 832, would gradually increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029, and starting in 2030, it would adjust automatically based on the Consumer Price Index to ensure that the minimum wage meets rising costs from inflation so Oklahomans can afford the most basic costs of living.

SQ 832 is an opportunity for Oklahoma voters to ensure that the state’s minimum wage reflects both the value of work and the realities of today’s economy. Here are some important considerations for Oklahoma voters as they cast their ballots in this historic election. 

Raising the minimum wage has come a long way to get to the ballot

The minimum wage in Oklahoma has remained stuck at $7.25 per hour since 2009. Since then, state legislative leaders have prevented multiple attempts to raise the minimum wage. Meanwhile, Oklahoma’s Congressional delegation has refused to increase the minimum wage at the federal level, meaning that the only option left to Oklahomans to see their wages increase is to pass their own legislation via the initiative petition. Getting a state question on the ballot is no easy task; in fact, Oklahoma has one of the most difficult initiative petition processes in the country, meaning that volunteers for SQ 832 had to come a long way to put the question before Oklahoma voters.

After surviving legal challenges from the State Chamber of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau, volunteers began gathering signatures in April 2024 to put SQ 832 on the ballot. In the 90-day signature collecting period, the Raise the Wage Campaign gathered 157,287 verified signatures, more than the 92,263 signatures it needed to make it onto the ballot. Despite this, SQ 832 was not certified in time to be put on the November 2024 ballot and the Governor chose to schedule it for the June 16, 2026, primary election, making it the longest Oklahomans have had to wait before voting on a state question in the last decade. Now, almost two years later, Oklahomans will finally have the opportunity to vote on the state question.

Affordability isn’t just about lowering costs, it’s also about raising wages

The vote to raise the minimum wage comes at a time when Oklahomans are facing increasing costs of living. A critical part of providing financial relief to Oklahomans is making sure that wages keep up with the cost of living. Oklahoma has the eighth highest poverty rate in the country, so putting more money in the pockets of Oklahomans will help families afford groceries and take care of emergency expenses. Although the state’s median hourly wage has increased, too many Oklahomans still make low wages. This includes substitute teachers, home health aides, workers in child care and food service, and more. If SQ 832 passes, more than 200,000 Oklahomans will see their wages increase, and an additional 119,000 workers will be indirectly affected. Notably, more than 200,000 children would be positively affected by increasing the minimum wage.

And when workers do well, so does the economy. Raising the minimum wage is good for businesses, including small businesses, since it increases employee retention and injects more money into the economy that Oklahomans will invest right back in these businesses. Raising the minimum wage is also good for youth, it boosts the local economy, it can help more families afford housing, it helps justice-involved people be better able to handle reentry from incarceration, and it can also help address economic inequities for communities disproportionately represented in low-wage jobs, such as American Indian and immigrant communities. While increasing the minimum wage is far from the cure-all to economic problems Oklahomans face, it is a vital first step that will ensure all Oklahomans are paid more than a poverty wage.

Oklahomans already signaled they want to raise the wage, all that is left is for them to vote

SQ 832 will be on the June 16 ballot, which is also the same date as primary elections. Because Oklahoma has so few competitive elections, primary elections tend to have both smaller voter turnout and are more strongly partisan. This historic pattern of low voter turnout is a key reason why it’s important for advocates to spread awareness that SQ 832 will be on the ballot on June 16.

In the lead-up to the election, voters might see ads attacking the state question, but the arguments against raising the wage today are the same arguments that circulated when the minimum wage was created in 1938. Despite the fact that the minimum wage has been raised 22 times since it was created, the economy has continued to grow, and businesses can adjust to pay higher wages. A higher minimum wage isn’t a threat to Oklahoma’s future — it’s an investment in the workers, families, and local businesses that keep our communities running every day.