COLUMBUS — Increasing the 24-cent tax on packs of cigarettes is one of several options before lawmakers trying for the third time in a year to balance the state's tight budget.

        Senate Republicans have been discussing a possible 50-cent increase to raise about $400 million a year.

        The state must fill a $1.2 billion budget deficit caused by the recession and slow tax revenue.

        Gov. Bob Taft has proposed eliminating about $500 million this year by borrowing more of the state's rainy day fund and making adjustments to end-of-the-year spending and budget reserves.

        That still leaves about $750 million that Ohio must make up during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

        Sen. Doug White, a Republican and tobacco grower from southern Ohio, said the cigarette tax increase is still in the discussion stage.

        “We're trying to make a decision on how big a target there is and how much we need to solve it, and are we going to do Band-Aids or a longer fix,” Mr. White said Thursday. “We're looking at everything.”

        On Tuesday, the Senate delayed a vote on the final version of the state's two-year spending plan for the money it receives from the 1998 settlement with major tobacco companies.

        The expectation is that Republicans will try to add a cigarette tax increase to the bill next week, said Sen. Gregory DiDonato of New Philadelphia, the top-ranking Senate Democrat.

        He said it is unlikely Senate Democrats would vote for such a change. They believe Republicans aren't doing enough to talk about long-term solutions to the state's budget woes.

        Lawmakers struggled for weeks last spring to balance the budget, then returned to the table in December to patch a $1.5 billion deficit.

        “Why don't we sit down and begin to get honest about this and come up with a comprehensive plan that tries to address the problem?” Mr. DiDonato said. “Are we going to do this every four months?”

        Sen. Jim Jordan, a conservative Republican from Urbana who favors additional budget cuts over tax increases, said he couldn't support raising cigarette taxes.

        “There's always implications for the overall economy,” Mr. Jordan said. “You might say, 'We're just getting cigarettes,' but I say it potentially impacts every family in the state.”

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