Oklahoma Economic Report : news and analysis of Oklahoma's economy, 10/30/2015, v.5 no.10

              A publication of the Office of the State Treasurer • Treasurer Ken Miller, Ph.D.
Economic Report TM
Oklahoma
News and analysis of Oklahoma’s economy
State Capitol Building, Room 217 • Oklahoma City, OK 73105 • (405) 521-3191 • www.treasurer.ok.gov
Volume 5, Issue 10 • October 30, 2015
SEE TSET PAGE 3
In 2000, voters approved a constitutional
amendment to set aside a portion of
Oklahoma’s payments from the Master
Settlement Agreement to combat the
state’s poor health outcomes. The
Master Settlement was the resolution
of a multistate lawsuit against Big
Tobacco for marketing tobacco to
children and high costs to states who
were shouldering the burden of tobacco-related
illnesses.
While many states took up-front
payments to meet immediate needs,
Oklahomans made a wise choice to
create an endowment trust, established
so earnings and interest could be
used to reduce unhealthy behaviors
in our state and lessen tobacco’s toll
on Oklahoman’s lives. Outcomes and
impacts continue to show that voters
made a wise choice that will impact
generations to come.
Oklahoma’s health problems are
complex and it takes a comprehensive
approach to make progress in reducing
and preventing tobacco use and obesity.
These two preventable behaviors are
the greatest contributors to Oklahoma’s
leading causes of death – cancer
and cardiovascular disease. Tobacco
Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET)
funding leverages the state’s efforts
to reduce these deaths that impact
Oklahomans at higher rates than
residents in other states.
November marks the 15th anniversary
of the voter creation of TSET, a grant-making
state agency dedicated to
improving Oklahoma’s health status.
Each year, 75 percent of the Master
Settlement Agreement payment is
invested through the endowment,
generating earnings. The remaining 25
percent is split between the attorney
general’s evidence fund and the
Legislature, where it is used for health-related
appropriations.
TSET: Saving lives, saving money
Inside
• Commentary by TSET Board
of Directors Chairman Jim
Gebhart
• Gross Receipts to the
Treasury continue to shrink in
September
•Gross receipts and General
Revenue compared
• Oklahoma jobless rate
decreases to 4.4 percent in
September
• Economic indicators
Editor
Tim Allen, Deputy Treasurer for
Communications Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Oklahoma Adult Smoking Rate
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
NOTE: Survey methodology changed for the 2011 survey and forward. Data sets are similar,
but not directly comparable.