California’s $20-an-hour minimum wage for fast-food workers has produced predictable outcomes—for employees, employers, and consumers. A recent paper out of UC Santa Cruz highlights the effects of policies like those proposed in SQ 832. 

After the California law took effect, restaurants were forced to cut hours by an estimated 21% at Burger King locations. McDonald’s locations in the area reduced hours equivalent to 62 full-time jobs. Hiring slowed, and underperforming locations were flagged for potential closure, reducing opportunities for the very workers the policy was meant to help.

For workers, the impact doesn’t stop there. Fewer hours mean smaller paychecks, even at higher hourly rates. At the same time, fast-food prices rose between 8% and 12%, putting added pressure on household budgets, especially for those who lost hours.

These outcomes are consistent with broader trends in California, where years of increasing minimum wages have coincided with declining youth employment and rising prices. Similar patterns have emerged in states like Oregon and Washington. Meanwhile, Oklahoma has taken a different path, one that has allowed wages to grow while keeping costs relatively stable, helping position the state in the top 10 in the nation for attracting younger workers.

California’s experience should give all Oklahomans pause. What may be a well-intentioned policy doesn’t produce the outcomes anyone wants—fewer hours, fewer opportunities, and higher prices for the very people it is supposed to help.

SQ 832 not only adopts minimum-wage policies similar to those seen in places like California, but it also opens the door for high-cost states to influence Oklahoma’s economy. By tying Oklahoma’s minimum wage to a national Consumer Price Index, it wouldn’t just reflect local conditions. It would be driven by rising costs across the country—including policies in states like California, where housing regulations have contributed to average home prices of around $775,000 compared to roughly $220,000 in Oklahoma.

Over time, that means Oklahoma’s wage policy would be influenced by heavy-handed political decisions made outside of Oklahoma.