Would Oklahoma voters approve an increase in the state's $7.25 minimum wage?

A new state question to increase the minimum wage in Oklahoma is drawing a challenge from farming and business organizations.

State Question 832 would gradually raise the minimum wage in Oklahoma from its current $7.25 per hour to $15 in 2029. Future increases would be tied to the cost-of-living index. Supporters of the proposal filed documents with the secretary of state’s office on Oct. 27.

The petition, which creates a state statute — meaning it doesn’t amend the Oklahoma Constitution — requires 92,263 signatures to get on the ballot. Constitutional amendments require 172,993.

Though supporters predict they can get enough signatures to place the petition on a ballot, two industry groups — the Oklahoma State Chamber and the Oklahoma Farm Bureau — are challenging the petition.

Court records show the chamber and the farm bureau filed a joint application requesting the Oklahoma Supreme Court to assume original jurisdiction of the petition and declare the petition "legally insufficient for submission to the voters."

The groups also filed an additional motion for oral arguments in the case.

The initiative petition, the State Chamber said, "will result in higher prices for consumers, fewer jobs for workers and greater failure rates for businesses." The farm bureau said the initiative petition would undermine its efforts to "support freedoms of farmers and ranchers, the promotion of individual liberties, private property rights and free enterprise."

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Raising the minimum wage, the farm bureau said, would "threaten the economic viability of many agricultural businesses and the vitality of rural communities."

"Proponents seek to circulate a petition that, if approved, would enact legislation that is in clear conflict with the Oklahoma Constitution as confirmed by the court's precedent," the chamber and farm bureau said.

"Initiative petition 446 seeks to amend Oklahoma statutes to raise Oklahoma's minimum wage so that it fluctuates yearly, delegating the authority to determine the amount of the yearly increase in the state minimum wage to the federal Department of Labor," the groups' petition said. "That squarely runs afoul of the Oklahoma Constitution as explained by this court."

Supporters of the petition countered that an increase was needed. Kelsey Cobbs, of El Reno, and Dustin Phelan, of Salina, are listed on the petition. Cobbs told the Tulsa World that residents should be able to earn a livable wage.

“I think the minimum wage needs to go up because the cost of everything has gone up, and it is time that wages people earn can actually help them make a living,” Cobbs told the newspaper.

As of Nov. 22, the high court had taken no action in the case.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Would Oklahoma voters approve a minimum wage increase?