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Showing 21 to 40 of 44 article results for “832”
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Law & Principles, Economy
Montana’s inflation-indexed minimum wage squeezes small businesses
Since tying its minimum wage to inflation in 2007, Montana has seen higher business failure rates, weaker startup survival, and a sharp drop in labor-force participation among young workers. Oklahoma risks repeating that pattern if voters approve SQ 832.Curtis Shelton | January 7, 2026
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Law & Principles
Oklahoma restaurant owner warns SQ 832 will kill jobs, businesses
Restaurant owner and state Sen. Kristen Thompson warns that SQ 832 would devastate independent restaurants, pointing to California’s recent wage hike that led to job losses, reduced hours, higher menu prices, and increased automation.Ray Carter | January 6, 2026
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Economy
Minimum-wage hikes don’t magically cut evictions—they shift who gets hurt
Some people claim that minimum-wage increases reduce evictions, but the evidence behind that claim is thin and ignores basic supply-and-demand realities.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | December 8, 2025
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Economy
Inflation-indexed minimum wages: Washington’s cautionary tale
Over the past 25 years, Washington state raised its minimum wage by 150 percent and, in 2021, locked in automatic annual hikes—just like those proposed under Oklahoma’s State Question 832. The results have been predictable.Curtis Shelton | November 24, 2025
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Economy
Market wages are already rising; SQ 832 would cause real harm
Although Oklahoma’s statutory minimum wage has been $7.25 since 2009, the true starting wage in the real labor market is already higher. After all, employers must pay what attracts workers—not what a law dictates. State Question 832 would force wages to skyrocket far beyond what local businesses can sustain.Jonathan Small | November 24, 2025
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Economy
Oregon’s inflation-tied minimum wage offers Oklahoma a warning
Oklahoma voters weighing a minimum wage hike tied to the cost of living should take a close look at Oregon, where a similar policy is in effect. Since 2000, Oregon’s minimum wage has climbed from $6.50 to $15.95, while the labor-force participation has dropped.Curtis Shelton | November 5, 2025
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Economy, Culture & the Family
SQ 832: A recipe for greater inequality and generational hopelessness
Oklahoma's State Question 832, which would mandate automatic minimum-wage increases by linking Oklahoma to a national index, is touted as a tool to reduce income inequality and support families. In reality, it would do the opposite.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | October 30, 2025
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Economy
Experts: ‘Living wage’ means fewer jobs, less money for workers
At a recent legislative study, experts told Oklahoma state lawmakers that linking the state’s minimum wage to the cost of living in expensive cities like New York or San Francisco—a proposal known as State Question 832—would harm small businesses, shrink job opportunities, and ultimately reduce workers’ take-home pay.Ray Carter | October 24, 2025
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Economy
Data show $15 minimum wage tied to restaurant job losses
A proposed $15 minimum wage under State Question 832 would backfire on the very workers it claims to help. The Employment Policies Institute estimates the measure would eliminate more than 12,000 restaurant jobs in Oklahoma.Curtis Shelton | October 21, 2025
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Economy
To infinity and beyond: SQ 832’s minimum-wage plan is a flight of fantasy
If State Question 832 is approved, Oklahoma could one day have the nation’s highest minimum wage. It may feel bold and heroic, but it defies economic gravity and would send jobs, young workers, and small businesses crashing back to earth.Curtis Shelton | October 8, 2025
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Economy
The slow-motion disaster of raising Oklahoma’s minimum wage
State Question 832, if approved, will gradually raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage—but its slow rollout masks the economic damage it will cause.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | October 7, 2025
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Law & Principles, Economy
Minimum-wage hike hits Gen Z hardest
Thanks in part to steep minimum-wage hikes, youth employment in California has collapsed.Curtis Shelton | October 3, 2025
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Law & Principles
If you hate the poor, raise the minimum wage
In Oklahoma, where market wages already exceed the state’s minimum wage, tying pay to big-city living costs in places like San Francisco would devastate Oklahoma’s rural economies.Jonathan Small | August 25, 2025
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Law & Principles
When raising the wage means shrinking the workforce
Since 2000, California has steadily raised its minimum wage far above the federal level. During that same period, the state’s labor force participation rate has dropped sharply, with low-skilled workers leaving the workforce at the fastest pace.Curtis Shelton | August 18, 2025
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Budget & Tax
SQ 832: National costs, local consequences
State Question 832, appearing on Oklahoma’s June 2026 ballot, proposes a steep minimum-wage hike that would tie future increases to the cost of living in high-priced urban areas like San Francisco and New York.Curtis Shelton | July 28, 2025
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Agriculture, Economy
Critics say proposed minimum-wage hike would export California’s problems to Oklahoma
A new Oklahoma ballot proposal, State Question 832, would dramatically raise the state’s minimum wage by tying it to the cost of living in expensive urban areas like San Francisco and New York City.Ray Carter | July 23, 2025
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Law & Principles
Unintended consequences: Oklahoma minimum-wage hike could fuel illegal-immigrant hiring
Oklahoma’s proposed minimum-wage hike could price Oklahoma teenagers and low-skilled workers out—and attract illegal immigrants willing to work under the table.Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. | June 12, 2025
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Judicial Reform
Another dubious Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling points up the need for reform
The court’s threadbare ruling on the minimum-wage issue highlights, once again, the importance of overhauling the judicial-selection process in Oklahoma. We need a system that produces judges whose rulings and opinions are grounded in law, not random political whims.Jonathan Small | April 1, 2024
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Judicial Reform
In minimum-wage case, Oklahoma Supreme Court defies judicial norms
The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s recent failure to perform one of the most basic duties of its job comes at a time when lawmakers are considering a measure to reform how judges are appointed to Oklahoma’s major courts.Ray Carter | March 6, 2024
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Economy
Study shows minimum wage hike will cost jobs, opportunity
A ballot measure to raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2029 took a blow recently when a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) study showed a similar federal proposal would eliminate many entry-level jobs for workers.Ray Carter | January 2, 2024