Caldwell pushes new plan for TSET

Lawmaker would use it for Oklahoma’s Promise

Alexia Aston

The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

Oklahoma’s House budget chair wants to nix the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust’s board of directors and redirect the trust fund’s earnings through a vote of the people.

House budget Chairman Trey Caldwell, R-Faxon, announced the plan shortly after the Oklahoma Supreme Court shut down his previous attempt to gain more control over nearly $2 billion worth of funds from the 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.

Earnings from the trust fund pay for research and treatment for tobaccorelated diseases and other health care programs, but Caldwell wants to spend the money on education, specifically helping Oklahoma students pay for college.

On Jan. 13, the Oklahoma Supreme

Court ruled 8-1 that changing TSET’s governance is a question of constitutional design, not legislative preference, and that decision should be made by the people.

Now, Caldwell is seeking to place a constitutional amendment before Oklahoma voters to restructure how investment returns from TSET are managed and distributed. The measure would eliminate the TSET board of directors and transfer responsibilities to the existing board of investors.

Currently, the board of directors decides how money from the trust is spent. TSET recently awarded $150 million to various health care programs, including a $25 million grant to help build the University of Oklahoma’s Stephenson Cancer Center facility in Tulsa, upon which construction began in December. It’s expected to open in 2028.

Last year, Caldwell’s initial attempt to redesign TSET’s governing board passed with ease in the House and Senate. On Thursday, Jan. 22, House Speaker Kyle Hilbert said he anticipates a robust conversation about TSET heading into the 2026 legislative session.

“These are public funds and as such, we should frequently have discussions about if these public dollars are best spent on multimillion-dollar administrative budgets and advertising campaigns or making a direct impact for Oklahomans,” said Hilbert, a Republican from Bristow and the House’s first in command.

The seven TSET board members are appointed by the governor, House and Senate leadership, the attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor and state schools superintendent. When the trust was first created, voters approved a constitutional amendment that created a board with staggered, seven-year terms.

Under Caldwell’s proposal, the millions of dollars generated by the trust fund would be distributed every year to fully fund Oklahoma’s Promise scholarships, and any remaining earnings would be transferred to the Education Reform Revolving Fund.

Oklahoma’s Promise, or the Oklahoma Higher Learning Access Plan, allows students from families meeting certain income and academic requirements to earn a college or technology center tuition scholarship.

Caldwell introduced the plan through House Joint Resolution 1077. A joint resolution is considered by both the House and Senate. If passed by both chambers, the measure would then be placed on a ballot as a proposed amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution.

Caldwell told The Oklahoman that he’s always championed improving education in Oklahoma. He said he spent three months drafting the resolution and having conversations with other legislative leaders and stakeholders in higher education, including the state regents.

“Anytime we can really think about how can we move our state forward in a positive manner, traditionally it revolves around education,” Caldwell said.

By law, TSET funds are meant to be spent on research and treatment to prevent tobacco-related disease, support prevention and cessation programs and improve Oklahomans’ health and health care services. It’s also used for substance abuse prevention and treatment, improve children’s quality of life and other health-related programs.

Caldwell said redirecting earnings from the trust fund would not eliminate these programs because missions carried out by TSET are also executed by the Oklahoma State Department of Health.

“Why are we paying for two things at once?” Caldwell said. “As an appropriator, that’s something that kind of frustrates me.”

The spokespeople for TSET did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

He added that the money that the trust fund makes each year has “no real accountability to the voters of Oklahoma,” repeating a common complaint from lawmakers. Caldwell said the resolution protects the principal of the trust, but uses the money the trust makes and funds “a program that we know that works.”

“We can then expand and give more opportunity to more Oklahoma kids to have that opportunity to go to college, go to CareerTech, or go to an apprenticeship and not have that burdening price tag, that student loan debt hanging over their head for the rest of their life,” he said.

Caldwell called TSET one of Oklahoma’s greatest assets and said the gist of the resolution is ensuring Oklahoma taxpayers have the right to determine how that asset is directed and used.

“If this bill passes through the process and goes to the vote of the people, that’s a decision for Oklahoma voters,” Caldwell said. “What do you think the best use of this money is for? Is it for expanding Oklahoma’s Promise to make sure every kid in Oklahoma can have opportunities to further their education in a manner that doesn’t saddle them with debt for the rest of their life? Or is it billboards or sidewalks or some of the stuff that TSET spends the money on?”