Reactions vary to diversion of tobacco funds

CLEVELAND (AP) — Anti-smoking forces in the state are divided over a lawsuit that challenges the state’s plan to divert $230 million that had been designated to fight tobacco use.

Some smoking opponents have complained privately that state leaders have used political strong-arm tactics in an effort to sway anti-tobacco groups to back the state’s plan, which would instead use the money for a jobs creation plan, The Plain Dealer reported Tuesday.

At issue is whether some smoking opponents avoided challenging the diversion because their institutions could benefit from state grants that are part of the jobs plan.

Last week the GOP-led Legislature passed and Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland signed a bill that would nearly wipe out the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation’s anti-smoking fund. The foundation sued, and a judge ordered the money frozen until a hearing this week.

Keith Dailey, a spokesman for the governor, said Tuesday that no pressure had been exerted to limit criticism of the money shift.

“The governor and the legislative leaders forged a bipartisan compromise to make the best possible use of state funds at a time of extremely limited resources to create tens of thousands of new jobs in Ohio,” Dailey said.

The money-diversion tactic has been used before: former Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, and lawmakers frequently raided the fund that was set up to help smokers quit and to prevent people — mostly teens — from starting. The state created the foundation with Ohio’s share of a 1998 settlement with tobacco companies.