By Daniela Juli-Cano, FOX23.com News Staff
TULSA, Okla. — Oklahoma voters rejected State Question 832 during Tuesday’s election, defeating a proposal that would have gradually increased the state’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029.
Election results show approximately 55% of voters opposed the measure, while about 45% supported it.
If approved, State Question 832 would have increased Oklahoma’s minimum wage from the current $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour beginning in 2027, with annual increases reaching $15 an hour by 2029.
Future increases would have been tied to inflation.
Following the election, supporters and opponents offered differing explanations for why the measure failed.
Melissa Myers, the Chair of the Tulsa County Republican Party and a Tulsa small business owner, said she believes concerns about the language of the proposal played a major role in voters’ decisions.
“That bill language had quite a few words that were the main issue, which is indefinitely increasing,” Myers explained. “Those are key words.”
Myers said she was concerned the measure could have created long term financial challenges for businesses.
Before Election Day, she said her company had already begun discussing potential changes if the measure passed.
“We were already going to have to maybe restructure our business and business model, go down in crew members functionally for this to happen, so this is a relief for us.”
She added that she hopes any future discussions about minimum wage increases happen through the legislative process.
Supporters of the measure expressed disappointment with the outcome but said the issue is far from settled.
Forrest Bennett, the President of the Oklahoma AFL-CIO, pointed to low voter turnout as one factor that may have contributed to the result.
“I guess disappointed, but not discouraged,” Bennett shared, explaining his mindset after the loss.
According to Bennett, some voters supported increasing the minimum wage, but had concerns about how the proposal would have tied future increases to the cost of living.
“They didn’t have a problem with the idea of raising the wage. They had issues with some of the mechanisms of this particular state question tying it to the cost of living moving forward.”
Bennett said discussions about wages and affordability will likely continue in Oklahoma despite the measure’s defeat.
“I don’t think that this is the end of this conversation around compensation and how we make sure that the economy works for everybody.”
With State Question 832 failing, Oklahoma’s minimum wage will remain $7.25 an hour unless changed through future legislation or another ballot initiative.
