By Debra Jasper
Columbus Enquirer Bureau

COLUMBUS - Lawmakers scrambling to bring racetrack video gambling to Ohio debated Tuesday whether to use half of the proceeds to lower prescription drug costs instead of spending all the money on education.

If the issue goes on the ballot this fall and voters agree to legalize new forms of gambling, legislators are considering spending half of the estimated $500 million in new tax revenues to pay for prescription drug subsidies for 2.2 million poor and elderly Ohioans.

The plan would spend the other half of the money from gambling on school construction and college scholarships for top high school students.

Sen. Robert Hagan, D-Youngstown, who for years has unsuccessfully pushed a bill to lower prescription drug costs, testified Tuesday at a Senate committee hearing that using gambling money to help people pay for medicine is the right thing to do.

"Relief for seniors and the poor, that's what we're all about," he said. "I'm not totally willing to sell my soul on this issue, but I don't mind renting out parts of it. This is one of the few opportunities we will have . . . to reduce the cost of prescription drugs."

While lawmakers haggled over details, about 200 union workers rallied outside the Statehouse, many of them AFL-CIO workers wearing T-shirts that read "Drug Companies Make Me Sick."

Edward Reiter, secretary and treasurer for the Crawford County AFL-CIO, said he came to the rally to protest the lawmakers' inability to get meaningful drug coverage for uninsured Ohioans.

"I've got insurance, but I've got family that doesn't," the Bucyrus worker said. "It's a cliche, but some people in this country really are being forced to choose between food and the drugs they need to sustain their lives."

Bill Burga, president of the AFL-CIO in Ohio, urged those gathered at the rally to spend the day lobbying their lawmakers to act.

"I've come to you today because I'm sick of drug companies and I'm sick of politicians who cater to the money interests instead of the interests of the people," he said. "Go in and meet with your senators and representatives. Don't ask them (to lower drug costs). Demand it."

As some lawmakers debate how to spend an additional $500 million if voters approve the racetrack video gambling, others in the legislature are agreeing to raise more than $3 billion in new taxes for a budget plan that is still $1.2 billion short.

Sen. Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, is sponsoring a resolution asking voters on Nov. 4 to decide if slot machines such as video poker should be allowed at Ohio's seven horse racetracks.

The resolution requires a three-fifths majority vote in both the House and Senate, and isn't subject to veto by the governor.

Taft has said he will campaign against any gambling measure. "The governor is opposed to using gambling as funding for any purpose because it's not a stable source of revenue," said Orest Holubec, Taft's spokesman.

Other lawmakers, however, say linking gambling to prescription drugs is a good way to balance the concerns of Republicans and Democrats, who may vote on the issue this week. "I was thinking maybe the governor has his medications mixed up," Hagan told workers at the rally. "He should stop taking Valium and start taking political Viagra and get something done."

Despite the fiery rhetoric, though, huge hurdles remain, including who should be eligible for subsidies and how much should be subsidized. Democrats want to pay for 30 percent of drug costs for Ohioans 55 and older with incomes up to 85 percent of the poverty level but have yet to determine how much such a plan could cost.

In addition, some lawmakers question how the legislature can even discuss taking on hundreds of millions in new spending while raising billions in new taxes and slashing billions from health care and education to balance the worst state budget crisis since WWII.

State Sen. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, said linking the prescription drug issue to gambling is just another way for proponents to get buy-in to legalize slot machines.

"They'll try anything," he said. "They'll try to tie it to schools, to tax issues and now to prescription drugs. I think they are pretty desperate."

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the gambling issue this week. If the prescription drug portion of the plan is rejected, Democrats plan to go back to their original plan backed by the Ohio AFL-CIO, the AARP, the United Way and 23 others. The group formed the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs and is pushing the legislature to pass Hagan's bill or similar measure.

The bill - set to have its first hearing in the Senate today -- is modeled after a Maine plan to lower drug prices by allowing the state to negotiate directly with drug companies on behalf of the uninsured and working poor. Democrats in the state House and Senate have proposed similar plans that they say could cut prescription drug prices by as much as 50 percent for uninsured Ohioans.

If lawmakers don't act, the coalition has gathered 143,000 signatures to push the issue on the ballot.

E-mail djasper@enquirer.com