Oklahoma’s Legislative session won’t begin for another month, but an Oklahoma Senator has already proposed a bill to raise the minimum wage in the Sooner State.
As KFOR reports,Senator George Young, a Democrat from Oklahoma City, has filed a bill that would raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to $10.50 per hour, starting in 2020.
Young says many Oklahomans often work multiple minimum-wage jobs to try to pay the bills—yet many still find themselves relying on government help. The wage increase, he says, would give those Oklahomans a leg up.
But critics of the idea say the plan could have a negative effect on the state’s finances.
The Pew Research Center recently noted, in real terms, the average hourly earnings of Americans peaked more than 45 years ago.