Rep. Sean Roberts said today he would like to utilize Oklahoma’s Tobacco Settlement Fund to pioneer new research in the fight against cancer.
Using the funds, Roberts proposes to increase the quality of Oklahoma medical schools and stimulate medical research. The legislator hopes that by helping to pay for higher education endowment chairs that are directly related to the research, treatment, and prevention of tobacco-related illnesses, Oklahomans could finally start breathing easy.
“Although higher education receives funding, endowed chairs have been underfunded for several years. House Bill 1732 creates a new funding stream for endowed chairs related to improving the health of Oklahomans,” said Roberts, R-Hominy. “All Oklahoman’s want to see health outcomes in Oklahoma improve. It is clear that putting more money into higher education in the area of fighting tobacco-related diseases would go a long way towards accomplishing that goal.”
An almost immediate benefit to the legislation is that tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness in Oklahoma which cost Oklahomans money in health costs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even a modest reduction in adult and youth smoking could result in nearly $1 billion in long term health care cost savings.
House Bill 1732, by Roberts, would allow higher education institutions to use 2 percent of the annual earnings from the trust fund to pay for endowed chairs related to the research, treatment and prevention of cancer and other tobacco-related diseases. The legislation was approved by a budget subcommittee by a vote of 7-2 and now goes to the full budget committee.
“Higher education and health care were two top priorities highlighted in the Governor’s State Of The State Address,” Roberts said. “I hope my colleagues and Governor Fallin will support this proposal. It is a constitutionally appropriate use of the trust fund. With their support, we could make some progress even in this tough budget year.”
