OKLAHOMA CITY – A Lawton lawmaker has proposed a new minimum wage for workers 18 and older in Oklahoma that would affect the compensation of waiters, waitresses and even college students who take on summer internships.

House Bill 2866 by state Rep. Daniel Pae, a Republican, was among 1,361 House bills filed for consideration by lawmakers during the coming session of the Legislature. State senators have filed a total of 840 bills to be taken up during the session, which begins Feb. 3 and is scheduled to conclude no later than May 29. Diverse bills touch on topics ranging from financing for future cost-of-living adjustments for retirees on the state pension system to new regulations proposed for Oklahoma’s medical marijuana industry.

Pae said HB 2866 proposes raising the minimum wage to $8.65 an hour and would include a provision to guarantee the new minimum hourly rate for people like restaurant workers who earn tips. Oklahoma’s current minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. The current law allows for up to $5.12 in tips earned by people like waiters to be deducted from their hourly wage as a “tip credit.” A provision in HB 2866 would still allow an employer to offset hourly wages paid by amounts of tips received by workers, but Pae said tip amounts would have to be documented to ensure that workers receive at least $8.65 an hour. Employers would be responsible for reporting tip amounts to the Oklahoma Tax Commission, he said.

“Employers shall establish a method by which employees declare their daily amount of commissions, tips or gratuities earned, and then the employer shall file a quarterly report with the Oklahoma Tax Commission, using a form created by the Oklahoma Tax Commission for this purpose, to declare the amount of taxable commissions, tips and gratuities earned by each employee,” the bill states.

Pae said the bill would extend the minimum-wage guarantee to students 18 and older who take on internships at businesses. If the bill passes into law, students who work at internships for at least 10 hours a week would have to be compensated at the rate of at least $8.65 an hour. While some students may be able to afford taking on unpaid internships in exchange for work experience only, Pae said many others cannot, and it’s important for Oklahoma to level the playing field for those students who cannot afford to work for no compensation.

“If we want to become a top-10 state in workforce development, we have to address wages paid to interns,” he said.

Pae said he is hopeful that the bill will be a starting place for discussion.

“We thought ($8.65 an hour) would be reasonable and open the door for negotiation,” he said.

Another bill, one authored by state Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, would potentially affect the income of retired teachers, police officers and others in the Oklahoma pension system. Senate Bill 1817 would address funding for future cost-of-living adjustments by tapping percentages of taxes earned on sales of alcohol, tobacco and medical marijuana. The lawmaker said the funding mechanism would allow for more reliable COLAs for people dependent on income drawn from Oklahoma’s six public retirement systems. He noted that the last time state pensioners received a COLA was in 2008.

“It’s time to take care of our state retirees who are facing ever-increasing health care, food and utility costs,” Sharp said.

Yet another bill that would affect the income of Oklahomans, albeit a smaller group, was filed by state Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City. His “Fair Pay to Play” bill would allow for athletes at state colleges and universities to be paid for doing commercial advertisements, for signing autographs or for otherwise marketing their names or images. Many college athletes struggle financially despite receiving scholarships, he noted.

“(The bill) would allow the NCAA to keep up the spirit of amateurism (and) also allow college student-athletes an opportunity to get paid at no additional cost to the school,” said Dollens, himself a former Division I football player and former member of the U.S. Olympic bobsled team.

Other bills could affect the income of medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. One, Senate Bill 1257 filed by Sen. Mark Allen, R-Spiro, would disallow medical marijuana from being advertised on billboards. House Bill 2779, authored by Rep. Jim Olsen, R-Roland, would prevent new medical marijuana dispensaries from being established within 1,000 feet of churches. Additionally, state Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, submitted a measure that would give lawmakers more direct control over medical marijuana tax revenues used to fund the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority. The state collected about $55 million in tax revenue from medical marijuana last year.

In addition to the 1,361 House bills filed, 16 House joint resolutions and four House concurrent resolutions were filed. The full text of House bills, along with additional information including authors and coauthors, can be found online at www.okhouse.gov.

A Senate deadline last week for filing bills did not apply to appropriations bills, which can be filed throughout the session. In addition, Senate rules allow “substantive bills” to be introduced during the session. Senate rules also allow for bills by the president pro tempore of the Senate and speaker of the House to be filed throughout the session. Senate resolutions and Senate concurrent resolutions can be filed throughout the session as well. People can review Senate bills online at www.oksenate.gov.

The second session of the 57th Legislature will begin on Feb. 3 with a State of the State address delivered by Gov. Kevin Stitt in the House Chamber.