Tulsa World Editorial:
State should reconsider tobacco trust fund priorities
Tulsa World – Aug 31, 2015
State Sen. Bryce Marlatt recommends funding education
My analysis: So, “Education” would depend on Tobacco sales?
They should simply stop the MSA and give the money back
The editorial is likely in response to Teds excellent report:
Theodore King
Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust
Oklahoma Constitution – August 7th, 2015
At least they are thinking about it.
And as Sheila noted at Dr. Seigel’s blog:
Jesse Hathaway, Research Fellow jhathaway@heartland.org
Government Grant Funding Corrupts Tobacco Research, Holds Back Scientific Inquiry
Heartland Institute – Aug 26, 2015
Daily Caller – Aug 24, 2015
Brad Radu explains that THR can’t get decent funding for research because everything is locked up in tobacco control.
Letter to the editor: Tobacco settlement a social engineering project
Tulsa World – Aug 9, 2015
The intent of the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry was to reimburse states for Medicaid payments for purported tobacco-related diseases, and to punish the evil tobacco industry for its misdeeds. However neither tobacco industry executives nor their stockholders have paid one red cent. Instead, working poor folks and a high proportion of the veteran population are paying this exorbitant and regressive tax.
Are you OK with that? The result of this social engineering effort is a transfer of funds from those who work for it to those who do not. It is not about health at all. It is a free money windfall to fund pork projects in perpetuity.
The proof in the pudding is the tobacco control industry’s intransigence to even consider tobacco harm reduction products. Consumer oriented E-cigarettes (vaporizers) are a vast improvement. They do not contain tobacco, so they cannot be taxed. But, if traditional tobacco products went away, there would be nothing to control, or tax. So, in essence, they have to protect traditional tobacco sales to keep the free money flowing. I am not OK with that.
Our priorities need to be reconsidered. Wouldn’t it be better if the money remained in the hands of those who earned it to buy legitimate goods and services? The right thing to do is decline to participate in the tobacco settlement. And in fairness, the accumulated funds ought to be returned to those who smoke.
Jay R. Schrand, Enid
Man accused of punching neighbor over cigarette
April 28, 2015
Joshua Steven Kiehl, 27, was arrested on assault complaints, Oklahoma City police reported. He is accused of punching a man who is legally blind and uses a cane.
An Oklahoma City man is accused of punching a legally blind neighbor who walks with a cane after the man refused to give him a second cigarette, police reported.
Joshua Steven Kiehl, 27, was arrested Monday on assault complaints and booked into the Oklahoma County jail, where he remained Tuesday.
Police were called about 10:30 p.m. Monday to an apartment complex in the 1700 block of NW 17, where the victim told them Kiehl assaulted him.
The man said Kiehl came to his apartment earlier asked for a cigarette. The man said he wanted his pack of cigarettes to last all week because he was out of money, but Kiehl persisted so he gave him one cigarette, according to a police report.
The man later went outside to smoke a cigarette and Kiehl approached him and again asked for another cigarette, but the man said no.
He told police he felt someone push him in the back and punch him on the side of his face.
A woman who saw the assault described the incident to police.
Oklahoma tobacco endowment eyed to fund teacher pay raise
BY TIM TALLEY Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY
Fifteen years after Oklahoma voters created an endowed trust for programs that discourage tobacco use and promote healthy lifestyles, a state lawmaker wants to use the fund to finance pay raises for teachers.
State Sen. Bryce Marlatt, R-Woodward, has proposed a constitutional amendment to let Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust funds be used to boost the salaries of teachers, who have not had a raise since 2008. Oklahoma teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation with an average starting salary of about $31,000.
“If we don’t do something very soon, we’re going to be so far behind in being able to compete with our neighboring states that we’re going to be in dire straits,” Marlatt said.
State lawmakers faced a $611 million hole in the state budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 and are likely to face a similar hole next year due to low energy prices and declining state revenue, he said. But with a core fund balance of just under $1 billion, the tobacco endowment has sufficient resources to finance a pay raise for teachers without sacrificing its original goal, Marlatt said.
Marlatt said the tobacco endowment could be used to finance a teacher pay raise for a couple of years until the state’s revenue picture improves. A $5,000 annual pay raise for teachers would have a $300 million fiscal impact.
Any diversion of the endowment’s funds would have to be approved in a statewide vote of the people. And officials who manage the tobacco endowment’s programs said raiding the fund could erode the dramatic impact it has had in reducing smoking in the state to an all-time low.
“We are keeping the promise of the settlement and addressing tobacco use,” said Tracey Strader, executive director of the tobacco endowment. “It’s our state’s leading cause of preventable death.”
The trust was created by a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2000 and receives 75 percent of each year’s payments by big tobacco companies to recover tax dollars lost treating smoking-related illnesses for smoking cessation and prevention programs. The Legislature and the Attorney General’s Office receive the balance of the funds.
Only investment income is spent on anti-tobacco programs, and this year the trust has a budget of $42 million to fund cancer research and operate programs like the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, which has served 275,000 Oklahomans since it was created in 2003 and saves an estimated $18 million each year in direct medical costs from tobacco users who quit.
Programs funded by the tobacco endowment have helped reduce the rate of adult smokers from 28.7 percent in 2001 to 23.3 percent in 2013. Since 2001, the number of cigarette packs sold has declined by 1 billion, and nearly 80 percent of Oklahoma homes are smoke-free.
“Every part of the state benefits from our media campaign,” Strader said. But Marlatt questioned the usefulness of some tobacco endowment programs including one that helps high schools pay for competitive rowing programs.
“I don’t see how a rowing program is beneficial to tobacco cessation,” Marlatt said.
Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, Oklahoma’s largest education employee association, characterized Marlatt’s proposal as “a Band-Aid for a problem that is much, much bigger.” Lawmakers should not rely on a one-time source of funds to pay for recurring teacher salaries, Priest said.
“We can’t pull money from other agencies and trusts to fix education’s problems. We have to look at long-term solutions,” Priest said.
Former Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who helped negotiate the master settlement with big tobacco companies of behalf of 46 states in 1998, said dipping into the trust to pay for recurring government expenses was neither wise nor prudent.
“It’s not fiscally conservative,” Edmondson said.
The former attorney general said a series of income tax cuts in recent years supported by the Legislature’s Republican majority has contributed to the state’s revenue woes. The state’s income tax rate is scheduled to drop again in January from 5.25 percent to 5 percent, reducing revenue by $57 million in 2016.
“The Legislature could do a great service to the state by focusing on restoring the tax base rather than looking every year for quick fixes that don’t solve the problem,” Edmondson said.
