On November 3, Oklahomans need to vote no on State Question 805 and yes on State Question 814.

State Question No. 805, if passed would prevent a judge from using a person’s past non-violent felony convictions to hand down a stiffer sentence. It would open doors for prisoners who think their sentences were too harsh based on past convictions.

This is part of an overall movement to empty the state’s prisons. Believe it or not, backers think that no one should be in prison unless they have committed a violent crime. Passage of this would be an open invitation to crime sprees. It would open the floodgates to drug trafficking and drug abuse.

This is not a good issue for Oklahoma.

State Question No. 814 would drop the percentage of the money that is given to the Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) from tobacco companies from 75% to 25% with the extra money being diverted to Oklahoma’s Medicaid funding.

This is a question posed by the Legislature, not by a private special interest group.

When Oklahoma negotiated a settlement with the tobacco giants, TSET was set up as an endowment. The money poured in and now there is more than a billion dollars in the trust fund.

TSET doesn’t need a billion dollars (plus millions and millions more each year) to run commercials telling people not to smoke, to drink more water, to eat healthy and get exercise. While those are noble messages, they don’t require that much money.

This state question would divert much-needed money to Oklahoma’a Medicaid program.

The Tulsa Beacon endorses a no vote on SQ805 and a yes vote on SQ814.