A Republican state senator from Woodward is proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to raid money from Oklahoma's Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust fund to pay for a teacher pay raise.
Sen. Bryce Marlatt announced on Tuesday his plan to introduce a resolution that would submit the proposal to a vote of the people.
Marlatt says since smoking rates have reached an all-time low in Oklahoma, the funds could be used without compromising the mission of the TSET.
The trust is a constitutionally protected fund established by a vote of the people in 2000 to use interest from tobacco industry settlement funds to pay for health care and anti-tobacco initiatives.
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