COLUMBUS — With time running out to balance the state's $1.2 billion budget deficit, lawmakers were preparing a plan that could include several additional taxes.

        Smokers and businesses could be the hardest hit as Senate Republicans debate the plan to close the hole, caused by the recession and weak tax returns.

        The plan would triple Ohio's tax on cigarettes; delay business tax breaks promised by President Bush's federal stimulus package; and implement a series of targeted taxes on businesses.

        Senate Republicans are also considering a version of Gov. Bob Taft's prescription drug discount program as part of the budget deficit plan, said Sen. Jay Hottinger of Newark, the No. 3 Senate Republican and a Finance Committee member.

        Approving that program could help speed the plan's passage in the Ohio House, which approved the prescription drug discount in June. The Senate has refused to pass it so far, concerned about the cost to pharmacists.

        Further discussion of the budget was expected today, with votes by the Senate Finance Committee and then the full Senate both expected Wednesday.

        “At this point we have not removed anything from the table,” Mr. Hottinger said. “The numbers continue to go south on us.”

        While the official budget deficit stands at $1.2 billion, Mr. Taft's budget office has said the actual figure could be worse at the conclusion of the fiscal year on June 30.

        Last week, the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission said the two-year deficit had worsened, to $1.7 billion.

        If lawmakers and Mr. Taft, a Republican, approve a plan by June 1, increasing the cigarette tax to 74 cents could raise about $26 million this year and about $400 million next fiscal year.

        Business groups oppose the tax, saying it hurts retailers and wholesalers who sell cigarettes. Anti-smoking groups support it, saying it will save lives.

        Lawmakers in the House and Senate are also revisiting a plan to raise additional money by creating targeted business taxes.

        Mr. Taft unsuccessfully pushed to raise $465 million with such taxes last year during a similar budget crisis.

        Proposals under discussion again would tax the undistributed income of Ohio-based trusts and eliminate the exemption on sales and use taxes on toll-free numbers.

        Another proposal would raise $50 million annually by preventing companies doing business in Ohio from sheltering income from taxes by using an entity known as a Passive Investment Corporation.

        The tax proposals are opposed by several Senate Republicans. “I'm not going to support a tax increase, no way,” Sen. Jim Jordan of Urbana said Monday.

        The budget plan also includes about $75 million in cuts for state agencies in the next fiscal year.

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