Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland was handed a victory this week when the state’s 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that the governor and the General Assembly have the authority to spend more than $230 million of tobacco settlement funds originally set aside for antismoking programs to help balance the budget.
The decision overturns an August decision by a Franklin County Common Pleas Court that had stopped the state from depleting the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation fund. The foundation was created with money from Ohio’s share of the multibillion-dollar national settlement with major U.S. tobacco companies.
It was the latest in a series of rulings that posed threats to the state’s $57 billion, two-year budget. Under the budget plan, the money would be used for a variety of programs, including children’s health care, Medicaid services, and children’s welfare payments to counties.
“Ohio has never promulgated a constitutional amendment restricting the use of its tobacco settlement funds. Accordingly, the General Assembly retained its power to legislate with regard to those funds,” the court said in its ruling.
The state will be prevented from dipping into the fund until a final court decision, the governor’s office said.
