OKLAHOMA CITY (OBV) – Attorney General Gentner Drummond filed a brief in the Oklahoma Supreme Court challenging State Question 832, a ballot initiative that aims to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage.
SQ 832 seeks to amend the Oklahoma Minimum Wage Act and increase the minimum wage. The amendment, if approved, would require employers to pay employees at least $9 per hour beginning in 2025, $10.50 per hour beginning 2026, $12 per hour beginning in 2027, $13.50 per hour beginning in 2028 and $15 per hour beginning in 2029.
The minimum wage would increase yearly, starting in 2030, based on cost of living increases, if any, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
Chad Warmington, president and CEO of The State Chamber of Oklahoma, said he fully supports Drummond’s opposition to the ballot initiative.
“State Question 832 is a job-killer that would shutter main-street businesses and deny economic opportunity for the lowest earners through reduced hours and benefits,” Warmington said. “SQ 832 is a carbon copy of San Francisco’s disastrous labor policies that will cede Oklahoman’s decisions to the unelected US Department of Labor. It is unconstitutional and we are thrilled to see Attorney General Drummond join the business community in this fight.”
Drummond filed a brief with the Oklahoma Supreme Court on Thursday, challenging SQ 832’s constitutionality.
“When an initiative petition manifests plain constitutional infirmities, allowing the petition to proceed to a state-wide election would disserve the proponents, protestants, and the people of Oklahoma,” Drummond wrote in the brief.
The Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation and The State Chamber jointly filed a formal protest challenging the legality of SQ 832 in November.
The joint legal challenge argues that SQ 832 is unconstitutional under Oklahoma law because it unlawfully delegates the legislature’s power to federal administrative officials.
“Oklahoma Farm Bureau members understand the importance of fair compensation for honest work as farmers and ranchers rely on dependable, hardworking individuals to ensure their agricultural operations run smoothly and efficiently,” said Steve Thompson, the Farm Bureau’s vice president of public policy. “State Question 832 seeks to raise minimum compensation through national economic projections that are unrepresentative of Oklahoma’s economy, and these burdensome government mandates will only intensify the inflationary pressures Oklahomans are already facing.”
