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Oklahomans working full-time jobs should be compensated enough to afford food, shelter, and basic necessities. Since the 1980s, wages have stagnated for middle-wage workers and decreased for low-wage workers, while very high-income earners have seen significant increases. As a result, income inequality in the United States has skyrocketed since then. A common measure of income inequality goes from 1 to 100, with 1 being perfect equality and 100 being complete inequality. The U.S. has a value of 41.8, which is far worse than most European countries and Canada and much higher compared to the 1970s, a time of relatively low income inequality in America.
Using this scale, Oklahoma’s income inequality score of 47.4 is even higher than the national value. This makes sense, considering the top 20 percent of Oklahoma households receive 52.6 percent of the state’s income. The minimum wage increase to $15 an hour proposed by State Question 832 is one step toward an economy where all people can live with dignity. Raising the minimum wage can reduce poverty by helping the most vulnerable Oklahoma workers afford basic life necessities, improve the state’s economic productivity, and ensure corporations pay their workers a decent wage so companies are not subsidized by the rest of the economy.
Higher minimum wage means taxpayers stop subsidizing corporations and CEOs to pay workers less
In 2024, CEOs nationwide made 281 times what a typical worker earned. Compare that to 1989, when CEOs made 60 times what a typical worker earned. The majority of low-wage workers are employed by large corporations with more than 100 employees, not by small, local businesses. These include companies like Hobby-Lobby, Walmart, and McDonald’s that pay service workers $9-$13 an hour while millions flow to CEOs and shareholders. CEOs often command outsized salaries at the expense of employees, especially the lowest-income folks. Such concentration of income stifles our economy.
Historically, most federal tax policy has benefited the richest 20 percent of households and worsened income inequality. They don’t need additional help accruing more wealth at the expense of taxpayers and low-wage workers. Failing to raise the minimum wage would continue to justify sub-standard wages for the lowest wage earners. It forces all taxpayers to continue subsidizing corporations — through the tax code and public assistance — so they can keep paying low wages. Corporations have a duty to provide their employees with a decent wage.
Increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour alone cannot reduce the poverty rate. Several policies need to change at the same time to effectively address poverty. Nonetheless, raising the state’s minimum wage could lead to an economic reality in which more income flows from corporate profits to middle and lower-income Oklahoma families and stimulates our local economies.
A higher minimum wage helps tipped workers
Tipped workers are currently excluded from the federal minimum wage laws. As such, tipped workers such as waiters and waitresses have a starting salary of $2.13/hour plus tips. The annual median income for waiters/waitresses in Oklahoma was $19,890 in 2024, only marginally above the federal poverty level for a single person in 2025 ($15,650). Women make up a disproportionate segment of tipped workers nationwide; in Oklahoma, women make up 74 percent of workers in tipped occupations, with a poverty rate of 15.1 percent. SQ 832 removes the minimum-wage exclusion for tipped workers in Oklahoma, promising a path to a fair wage of $15 an hour for all workers, including the high concentration of women who are tipped workers.
The exclusion of tipped workers from minimum wage laws is rooted in historic and systemic racist policies, a relic of slavery. Recently emancipated Black people were overwhelmingly relegated to jobs associated with “inferiority and servitude,” which heavily relied on tips (i.e., porters, servants, waiters). When a minimum wage for tipped workers was finally established in 1966, it was set as a percentage of the full minimum wage to guarantee proportional increases. But after lobbying from the restaurant industry, the tipped minimum wage was de-linked and has remained frozen at a special federal minimum wage of $2.13 per hour since 1991. Since then, the tipped minimum wage has lost 58% percent of its value when adjusted for inflation.
The Trump administration made the “No Tax on Tips” provision law through House Resolution 1, the federal reconciliation megabill passed in July 2025. This policy was intended to provide relief to tipped workers. The reality is, the law does not help the lowest wage earners, as it doesn’t begin to phase in until a household reaches a minimum income threshold ($15k for single, $30k for married filing jointly) and fully phases in at incomes much higher ($45k and $65k respectively). Deductions are more valuable to higher-income households and less beneficial to those who need it the most. Low-wage earners are better off earning $15 an hour and paying income taxes on those dollars than claiming the “No Tax on Tips” deduction. Raising the minimum wage ensures the benefits flow from the lowest wage earners up, lifting up all households as it increases, and benefiting our economy.
Income taxes should be based on each taxpayer’s ability to pay. While the “No Tax on Tips” policy seeks to provide relief for tipped workers, it misses the mark. Further, this policy spotlights that most lawmakers are doing little to help workers with similar incomes who work in professions without tipping. There is no justification for taxing bartenders and servers more lightly than childcare workers and home health aides earning similar incomes. The most direct and guaranteed way for tipped workers to receive relief and earn more is for their employers to pay them more.
More money in people’s pockets means a stronger economy
The economy benefits from a higher minimum wage in many ways. When low-and middle-income households earn more, they spend more to meet their needs, which stimulates the local economy. CEOs could choose to keep the number of low-wage jobs constant and stable because large businesses with a good business plan should have enough profits to pay more without reducing positions. Higher wages also lead to lower turnover rates at firms because workers become more attached to their employers. Lower turnover rates increase the productivity of the firm because less time and money is spent onboarding and training new employees every few years. As higher wage jobs become the norm, more efficient firms tend to keep up with rising costs. Market forces take over, with employees shifting into those higher-productivity firms, improving the economy as a whole. While low-wage workers are the direct beneficiaries of a high minimum wage, the benefits are felt by modest wage earners as the spillover effects increase their wages.
The state also benefits from an increased minimum wage. State revenue increases via two main taxes: income and sales tax. When wages rise, more Oklahomans can meet their basic needs and contribute to state revenue — strengthening public services. Additionally, with increased salaries, people spend more in their local economy, and sales/local tax revenue for the state increases. These indirect boosts in revenue can be funneled back into services that everyday Oklahomans rely on.
Raising the minimum wage benefits the economy and everyday Oklahomans
Raising the minimum wage in Oklahoma is an economic necessity. The federal minimum wage has not been changed since 2009, stuck at $7.25 an hour. The income gap between everyday people and those at the top of the income ladder has reached record levels over the past three decades. A minimum wage increase addresses the growing income inequality that has hampered the middle class and left many hardworking people behind. It has stifled our economy. By increasing wages, especially for tipped and low-wage workers, we strengthen families, reduce reliance on public assistance, and create a fairer and stronger economy where corporations are held accountable for paying decent wages.
The proposed increase in SQ 832 is a step toward restoring dignity to work, boosting local economies through increased consumer spending, and ensuring public resources are used to support progress — not to subsidize corporate profits. While not a silver bullet, it is a foundational reform that Oklahoma urgently needs to move toward a more equitable and prosperous future.
