COLUMBUS — A planned multimillion-dollar anti-smoking campaign could be jeopardized by lawmakers' plans to take as much as $309 million of Ohio's share of the national tobacco settlement, health advocates say.

        “Ohio already has the third-highest smoking rate in the country,” Chris Schulte of Tobacco-Free Ohio said Monday. “One of the reasons is the state has not put the resources into tobacco-prevention efforts, so we're already behind.”

        Senate Republicans planned today to finish their version of a plan to bridge Ohio's $1.5 billion budget deficit.

        “The bottom line is that the Senate will tax less than the House and will cut government spending more,” said Sen. Randy Gardner of Bowling Green, No. 3 in the GOP-controlled Senate.

        Last month, Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican, announced that the slumping economy and financial impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would create a $1.5 billion budget deficit by the end of next year.

        Budget proposals from Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as Mr. Taft, include using varying amounts of money from the tobacco settlement.

        Mr. Taft proposed a package of $600 million in budget cuts, borrowing $100 million in tobacco funds, raising about $465 million in targeted taxes on businesses and using about $280 million from the state's rainy day fund.

        The Republican-controlled House proposed a similar package but included about $660 million in budget cuts and borrowing about $240 million in tobacco funds.

        The Senate plan, if agreed to, would use $309 million from the tobacco settlement — most from a fund to create anti-smoking programs, the other from research-related funds.

        It also would cut about $832 million from most state agencies, but would exclude the departments of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Devel opmental Disabilities, the prison system and higher education.

        The Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Foundation plans to start a four-year, $50 million anti-smoking advertising campaign in January, using interest from money Ohio received as part of a nationwide settlement with major tobacco companies.

        The less money available to generate the interest, the less likely the program will proceed past the first six months, Mr. Schulte said.

        Several groups, including the foundation and the American Cancer Society, pleaded with lawmakers last week to leave tobacco money alone.

        “By stopping the progress the foundation board has made, we're only likely to fall farther behind,” Mr. Schulte said. “At the same time, the health of Ohioans will decrease and more kids will start smoking.”

        Some conservative Senate Republicans favor no tax in creases at all and more budget cuts. “We're Republicans, let's just cut spending,” said Sen. Jim Jordan of Urbana. “Let's not raise people's taxes and not bring gambling to the state.”

        Some Senate Republicans favor letting Ohio raise money by joining a multistate lottery.

        It's clear some of the business taxes will be removed from the Senate plan, “but the question is, "How many?'” said Sen. Jay Hottinger of Newark.

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