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Heritage
Foundation
Minimum
Wage Hikes Banned in Oklahoma Cities
Alissa
Tabirian
April
16, 2014
Republican
Governor Mary Fallin signed a bill into law Monday banning minimum
wage and employee benefit increases in Oklahoma cities.
The
bill declares “state preemption authority,” stipulating that “no
municipality or other political subdivision of this state shall
establish a mandatory minimum number of vacation or sick leave days,
whether paid or unpaid, or a minimum wage rate which an employer
would be required to pay or grant employees.”
The
legislation passed amid efforts by a state attorney and labor union
to collect 80,000 signatures on a petition calling for a $10.10
minimum wage instead of Oklahoma’s current level of $7.25. The
petition mirrors President Obama’s proposal to raise the federal
minimum wage.
Supporters
of the bill highlight the typically impermanent, entry-level nature
of minimum wage jobs and noted that a wage hike would eliminate many
of these jobs while harming businesses.
The
bill “protects our economy from bad public policy that would
destroy Oklahoma jobs,” Fallin argued, as it “would drive
businesses to other communities and states, and would raise prices
for consumers.”
Heritage
analyst James Sherk concurs, noting that:
In
inflation adjusted terms the minimum wage hit a high of $8.28 in
1968. Minimum wage hike advocates propose raising the minimum wage
well above its historical all-time high, during a weak economy and
when Obamacare has already raised labor costs. That would destroy
hundreds of thousands of jobs.
This
story was produced by The Foundry’s news team. Nothing here should
be construed as necessarily reflecting the views of The Heritage
Foundation.
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