Oklahoma House of Representatives
Office of the Speaker
February 10, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mike Fina
Media Assistant to the Speaker
Oklahoma City: (405) 962-7618 or (800) 522-8502

"Common Sense"

By House Speaker Larry E. Adair
In the coming weeks the Legislature will consider a proposal by Governor Henry that would increase the tax on tobacco products by 52 cents. The Governor would like to use the funds to provide medical coverage for about 200,000 uninsured Oklahomans, build a cancer research center and provide needed funding for statewide trauma care.

Providing insurance for Oklahomans who have little or none and funding trauma care are two of the health care planks in the House Democrats' agenda for this session.

Democrats recognize that rural and urban areas have distinct problems when it comes to funding health care.

Rural areas continually fight to keep hospitals from closing and attract doctors who will accept Medicaid patients. In the urban areas funding issues range from indigent health care to ensuring lifesaving trauma care is available to the entire state. The common denominator is that the future of health care in Oklahoma is dependent on the Legislature finding new means of funding the system.

Under any other circumstance raising taxes would not be my first choice, but the state is facing further budget reductions and new funding streams must be identified to make this and other proposals a reality.

The Governor and I both agree sending the proposal directly to a vote of the people is the best option to assure citizens have a voice on the issue. If you approve the proposal, it could raise approximately $130 million for health care in Oklahoma.
Indirect benefits of the plan include discouraging smoking, especially in our youth, through the increased cost of tobacco products.

Additionally, people who smoke are prone to premature health problems. This places a burden on Oklahoma's health care system and ultimately costs taxpayers money.
Reducing the number of tobacco users will ultimately help to lower health care costs across the board.

A recent poll in the Tulsa World revealed that 56 percent of Oklahomans would support an increase if the funds were earmarked for health-related programs. Like most Oklahomans, I view the increase as reasonable and a responsible approach to solving a serious health issue facing the state.

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