See you at 6.15

Rep. Richard Morrissette (D-OKC) tried earlier this year to get the state's minimum wage increased above the federal minimum, and failed.

Now a group called Raise Oklahoma will be circulating a petition to get a minimum-wage hike on the state ballot, and Morrissette says he's one of the backers thereof.

The petition calls for a $1 increase in 2007 and in 2008, and indexing of the wage to the Consumer Price Index thereafter; the petitioners must obtain approximately 120,000 signatures in 90 days.

As expected, the State Chamber announced its opposition; this is consistent with the Chamber's general belief that state law should match federal law in such matters. Senior VP/operations Mike Seney said:

Of course, were there a federal bill to increase the minimum wage, the State Chamber would presumably oppose it also, so their definition of "resolved" might vary a bit from Webster's.