Economy

To infinity and beyond: SQ 832’s minimum-wage plan is a flight of fantasy

October 8, 2025

Curtis Shelton

There is a moment in Pixar’s inaugural movie, “Toy Story,” when Buzz Lightyear attempts to prove all the doubters wrong. 

After persistently denying reality, Buzz eventually sees a commercial for the new Buzz Lightyear action figure—confirming what Woody had been telling him all along: “You are a toy!”

But instead of finally accepting reality, Buzz further indulges his delusion by attempting to fly. With Randy Newman’s music playing in the background, Buzz confidently steps onto the staircase railing, spreads his arms, and shouts his famous catchphrase: “To infinity and beyond!” 

Then, reality hits—literally—as Buzz plummets to the floor.

With SQ 832 on the ballot on June 16, 2026, Oklahoma has climbed up the staircase railing. If we aren’t careful, we’ll find ourselves falling through the air just like Buzz.

SQ 832 would double Oklahoma’s minimum to $15 an hour by 2029. As disastrous as that would be for Oklahoma’s workforce, as evidenced by other states around the country, what comes after that would be even worse. Starting in 2030, the Oklahoma minimum wage would be tied to a national cost-of-living index that raises the wage indefinitely. 

If we look at the average cost-of-living increase since the release of “Toy Story” in 1996, it would only take five more years for Oklahoma to have the highest minimum wage in the country—with the potential of reaching $30 an hour in 20 years.

This would be an unprecedented increase in the minimum wage that would surely harm the same workers this measure claims to help, forcing more young people out of the workforce and hastening the move to automation for some employers.

Photo credit: Willrow Hood / stock.adobe.com