Jump to full article: USA Today, 2008-01-11
Author: Ted Strickland, a Democrat, is governor of Ohio.
Intro: Bob Bauman of Toledo had smoked and chewed tobacco for 45 years. A call to the Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation's quit line helped him begin living tobacco-free. Even more encouraging, Bauman was the 25,000th Ohioan to stop using tobacco with help from the counselors on the quit line.
The state-funded foundation, with more than $300 million of assets in reserve, continues to provide support for effective efforts to reduce tobacco use and ensure that young people understand the dangers of tobacco.
The bottom line is that smoking in Ohio is being reduced. . . .
While we continue improving the health of Ohioans and winning the fight against tobacco use, I successfully led a bipartisan effort to securitize the assets from Ohio's tobacco settlement. In effect, we replaced uncertain future revenue with actual dollars in hand.
These funds will pay for 250 new schools. These are debt-free facilities built with advanced environmental standards that will serve Ohio schoolchildren for generations. And we funded a tax cut that ensures those over 65, and the disabled, will not pay one penny of property taxes on the first $25,000 of value in their homes.
Let me say clearly that Ohio is committed to reducing tobacco use and protecting Ohioans' health. We are doing just that. But we are also committed to pursuing innovative solutions to make the absolute best use of our resources to benefit the people of Ohio.
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