Oklahoma receives $2.29-million in tobacco settlement money

Tuesday, April 19th 2005, 11:03 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Oklahoma received another $2.29 million in tobacco settlement funds Tuesday, bringing to more than $65 million the amount of money received from big tobacco companies in the past two weeks.

65-percent of the latest payment, totaling $1.4 million, was deposited into the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust Fund, state Treasurer Robert Butkin said. The fund totals $241.5 million.

The state received $63 million from tobacco companies last week, raising the total received to more than $434.8 million since 1998, Attorney General Drew Edmondson's office said. The settlement agreement requires the companies to make payments to the state each April.

Oklahoma sued the tobacco companies in 1996 to recover money spent by the state for treating smoking-related illnesses. Oklahoma was the 14th state to file a lawsuit.

Edmondson and seven other attorneys general negotiated the agreement in November 1998. It imposed sweeping bans on tobacco advertising, stopped tobacco companies from targeting children, allocated money for tobacco education and paid the states about $206 billion in recovery funds.

Oklahoma's share of the settlement totaled $2.03 billion over 25 years. The state received an additional $268 million for the contributions Edmondson and his office made to the case.

Oklahoma's tobacco trust fund was created by a voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution in 2000. It allows interest earned from investment of trust fund money to be spent on health programs, particularly for children and older adults.