Ohio has sold off a substantial chunk of its future payments from the nationwide tobacco settlement and will use the $5 billion in proceeds for school construction and tax relief, the Dover-New Philadelphia Times-Reporter reported Oct. 29.

The tobacco bond sale was part of Gov. Ted Strickland's two-year budget, approved by the legislature earlier this year. "The goal of our budget was to live within our means and invest in what matters, and a successful tobacco securitization was an important part of achieving that goal," Strickland said.

State officials said the sale would minimize the state's risk of relying on tobacco sales to fund future payouts under the 1998 settlement deal. "It's almost as if we held stock in the tobacco companies," said State Treasurer Richard Cordray.