In Oklahoma, the campaign Raise The Wage Oklahoma submitted about 180,000 signatures on July 15, 2024, for a ballot initiative, State Question 832. The ballot initiative would increase the state’s minimum wage. Under State Question 832, the minimum wage would increase as follows: $9 per hour in 2025, $10.50 per hour in 2026, $12 per hour in 2027, $13.50 per hour in 2028, and $15 per hour in 2029. Starting in 2030, the minimum wage would be adjusted annually based on changes in inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
To qualify for the ballot, 92,263 of the signatures must be verified.
As of 2024, Oklahoma was one of 20 states that use the federal minimum wage rate of $7.25, which was set by the federal government in 2009. The other 30 states provide for state minimum wages above the federal minimum wage.
The average state minimum wage in 2024 is $10.69.
Across the U.S., from 1996 to 2022, there were 28 minimum wage increase measures on the ballot. Voters approved 26 (92.86%) and rejected two (7.14%). The two minimum wage increase measures that were rejected were in Montana and Missouri in 1996.
The most recent states to vote on a minimum wage increase ballot measure were Nebraska and Nevada in 2022. Nebraska Initiative 433 increased the state’s minimum wage incrementally from $9 to $15 by 2026. The Nevada measure set a wage of $12 for all employees, effective July 2024, and removed the state’s tiered wage system, where pay rates could be less if an employer provided benefits.
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau and the State Chamber of Oklahoma oppose the ballot initiative. The two groups filed a lawsuit in November 2023, arguing that the measure unconstitutionally delegates legislative powers to federal officials. The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in March that the initiative was legally sufficient.
Amber England, a spokesperson for Raise the Wage Oklahoma, said, “The costs of gas, groceries and housing have all gone up, but wages have largely stayed the same. Voters across the state are excited to vote yes to help lift the wages of workers doing essential jobs like caring for the most vulnerable among us in nursing homes and hospitals and those working in industries that care for Oklahoma’s young children in childcare.”
To appear on the ballot, the submitted signatures must be verified, and the governor must certify an election proclamation to the State Election Board at least 70 days before the election. For the November 5 election, this deadline is August 27.
Three measures concerning minimum wage changes are on the ballot in three states in 2024:
Alaska: increase minimum wage to $15 by 2027 and provide for sick leave accrual;
Arizona: allow tipped workers to be paid 25% less per hour than the minimum wage if any tips received by the employee were not less than the minimum wage plus $2 for all hours worked; and
California: increase minimum wage to $18 per hour by 2026.
Signatures were submitted for an initiative in Massachusetts that would gradually increase the wage of tipped employees until it meets the state minimum wage in 2029 and still permit tipping in addition to the minimum wage. Signatures were also submitted in Missouri for an initiative that would establish a $13.75 per hour minimum wage by 2025, which would be increased by $1.25 per hour each year until 2026, when the minimum wage is $15 per hour. Signatures were also submitted for an initiative in Arizona that would increase the minimum wage to $18 by 2028.
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