More than a decade ago, Oklahomans took a visionary step and locked in place 75 percent of the expected funds coming from the 1998 tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.
Oklahoma voters invested the money in an endowment fund and formed a Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust to manage the millions of dollars expected from the lawsuit settlement. Oklahoma is the only state that has set aside the settlement earnings.
Earnings have grown over the years and now amount to more than $15 million per year. We are now 13th in the nation in funding for tobacco prevention and have received almost $90 million over the years.
Voters approved the constitutional amendment in 2000 and mandated that the earnings should only be spent on programs and services related to tobacco control, fitness, nutrition and health.
Now, lawmakers are likely to pass legislation asking voters to set aside 10 percent of the settlement funds for "adult" stem cell research. HR 1035, authored by Rep. John Enns of Enid, passed the House 99-0 and is currently before the state Senate.
If approved, it would set aside money for specific programs other than the ones that the TSET board selects through its program of priorities.
If approved by voters in November, it could roll back the progress currently being made in Oklahoma's tobacco use rates. Adult smoking rates have moved below 25 percent for the first time since the endowment was put in place.
One of the program's goals is to lower Oklahoma's adult tobacco use rate below 20 percent by 2012. Lawmakers should keep their hands out of this account and let the successful program continue.
