Editor's Notebook

Gov. Stitt did away with the sales taxes on groceries, now there is a movement in the state legislature to do away with property taxes.

With that said, now the legislature is scrambling to find ways to fund state government.

Oklahoma lawmakers are pursuing a legislative, voter-approved restructuring of the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) through House Bill 4003 and House Joint Resolution 1077.

These measures seek to eliminate the TSET Board of Directors, shift control to the Board of Investors, and redistribute endowment earnings to fund Oklahoma’s Promise scholarships and education initiatives.

The plan would dissolve the current TSET Board of Directors and transfer authority to the existing Board of Investors, aiming to manage TSET’s nearly $2 billion in assets.

Because TSET was created by a voter-approved constitutional amendment in 2000, these changes require a new statewide vote (HJR 1077) to take effect.

This ongoing effort follows a previous attempt by the Legislature to control the funds, which was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court as unconstitutional, according to reports.

When are the Republicans going to wake up and smell the deficit and realize they can’t keep taking away revenue when the bills continue to come in as usual.

Sure, people love tax breaks but they also want education, health care and public welfare funded.

For a state that ranks No. 50 out of 50, cutting revenues doesn’t seem to make sense.

Instead, they are proposing to borrow from Peter to pay Paul by taking funds from the teacher retirement fund.

Where is the logic?