SQ 832: a competition-crushing, AI-adopting dream for Big Business

SQ 832: A Competition-Crushing, AI-Adopting Dream for Big Business

State Question 832, the ballot measure that would dramatically raise Oklahoma’s minimum wage, is a gift to Big Business, Big Tech, and the accelerating AI revolution. Oklahomans will vote on June 16th to decide the fate of our state's economic future. SQ 832 is bad news, and let me take a few moments to warn you about it.

We stand at the threshold of tremendous technological transformation, one that risks the “de-humanization” of common work. AI, algorithms, and robotics are increasingly being used, in all industries, to handle routine tasks. I'm watching it grow in the cleaning and restoration industry; I'm sure it's in your field as well.

If you pay any attention at all to what the Big Tech gurus are saying at global conferences and shindigs, they are eager to remove humans from the labor equation wherever possible. Other actors are seeking to use this to pursue a socialist Universal Basic Income, whereby everyone is on the government dole and thus more easily controlled, particularly as tech-driven surveillance becomes more mainstream (see State Rep. Tom Gann's long-running fight against the implementation of Flock cameras and similar technology across the state).

SQ 832 does not fight this trend; it subsidizes it. Rather than lifting employees up the ladder, it would saw it off above their reach.

As my friend Michael Bates of BatesLine aptly notes:

"The higher the minimum wage, the more attractive it becomes to replace a human worker with a machine. A $15 or $20 minimum wage is a massive subsidy for the development and deployment of kiosks, robotic fry cooks, and AI-driven customer service."

Raising Oklahoma’s minimum wage through SQ 832 would dramatically speed up this displacement, kicking out the very people at the bottom of the economic ladder: young first-time workers, part-timers, students, seniors, and others who rely on entry-level jobs to gain skills, experience, and a start on the road to financial independence.

I concur with Bates: “Oklahomans should reject this job-killer that is being pushed by socialists and other economic ignoramuses.”

Rather than letting Oklahoma’s market naturally adjust to and absorb these rapid changes, SQ 832 imposes a rigid standard dictated not by local conditions, but by economic realities in high-cost coastal urban centers. It requires the minimum wage to increase (eliminating almost all current exemptions) from $7.25 to $15 by 2029, then locks in automatic annual increases tied to the CPI-W - an index reflecting only about 30% of the U.S. population, heavily influenced by expensive metros. When you look at the data over recent years, regional CPI-U for the West South Central area (including Oklahoma) has risen noticeably slower than national CPI-W.  So why did the left-wing authors of this ballot question pick the CPI-W?

This isn’t neutral indexing; it’s intentionally designed to import blue-state economic conditions into Oklahoma, with no ability to tweak or adjust the system. Oklahoma wages would be determined by progressive-run cities like Seattle, Boston, and San Francisco, rather than the actual reality on the ground in Muskogee, Midwest City, or McAlester.

The consequences will fall hardest on small and independent businesses, the backbone of Oklahoma’s economy. Operating on thin margins already, the investment and learning curve for automation is too steep for them to quickly implement, and the increase in their costs may drive customers away and result in closing their doors. 

Large multi-state corporations and chains, in contrast, will simply accelerate their ongoing shift to kiosks, AI ordering systems, robotic automation, and other technologies. For them, machines become the obvious cheaper option once human labor is artificially inflated.

This will be particularly devastating amid the AI surge, which we are just now in the beginning stages of. Entry-level positions that once taught work habits, customer service, and basic skills will vanish faster as employers switch to technology over people. 

Society is unprepared for the broader effects. The digital age and smartphones have already reduced face-to-face interaction. SQ 832 will push us further: expect more meals ordered from kiosks with no employee at the counter, less staff in stores to assist, even fewer opportunities for young Oklahomans to enter the workforce, more people on welfare and dropping out of the workforce, and overall diminished human connection in daily commerce.

Oklahoma doesn’t need more shackles on its economy. We need freedom, flexibility, and the ability to innovate in response to technological change - not mandates driven by coastal policies. Market forces, not government fiat, should set wages based on local productivity, supply, and demand. We do not need a left-wing wage mandate that functions as a "Help Wanted" sign for robots.

It is no exaggeration to say that if State Question 832 passes, Oklahoma will face seriously negative economic consequences, especially among small and independent businesses.

If you want to break the backbone of our state’s economy and accelerate the replacement of Oklahoma workers with machines, by all means, vote yes. But if you value a free, prosperous, and human-centered future for all Oklahomans, vote NO on SQ 832.