MADISON -- The Tobacco Control Board allocated $10.2 million Monday for next year's anti-smoking efforts, almost half of what it gave out for 2001.

The board was forced to slash anti-smoking efforts after its funding was cut in the budget Gov. Scott McCallum signed in August. "We're just not doing as much as we could and should, which means more people are going to die of tobacco-related disease,'' said David Gunderson, board executive director. The board's biggest cut was in its media campaign, which was reduced from $6.5 million this year to $2.5 million next year. The campaign has featured TV spots showing a former cigarette model who had her larynx removed. Another features Patrick Reynolds, grandson of R.J. Reynolds, who tells viewers cigarette companies don't print the contents of cigarettes on packages because they don't want smokers to know what they're inhaling. The board received $20.8 million for grants for the year that ended June 30. It has $15 million for grants in each of the next two fiscal years, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Rep. John Gard, R-Peshtigo and co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee, said the state doesn't have any extra money to give the board. The governor has said the state could take in $300 million to $1.3 billion less than expected for the two-year period that began July 1. "They've just got to wake up and realize this state's in an economic downturn,'' Gard said. The board was created to distribute and manage the money the state was to receive as part of a 1998 settlement it and 45 other states reached with the tobacco industry. The state will sell its tobacco payments for about $1.3 billion under the budget McCallum signed. The board will continue to receive money after the payments are sold and is slated to receive $25 million a year after the current budget. Carrie Sullivan of the Smoke Free Wisconsin Coalition said it's imperative the board receive the increased funding. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Wisconsin spend at least $31 million a year on anti-smoking efforts.

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