Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a former tobacco industry lobbyist, has vetoed a bill that would have continued $20 million in annually state funding to a smoking-prevention foundation, the Associated Press reported March 28.

Barbour had criticized the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi -- funded with a portion of the state's share of the nationwide tobacco settlement -- for lack of accountability. The legislation he vetoed was a compromise bill intended to address those concerns, and includes a provision for regular state audits of the group.

In announcing the veto, Barbour, a Republican, claimed the Partnership "has been cloaked in politics and cronyism." The group is led by former Attorney General Mike Moore, a Democrat who negotiated the 1998 settlement with the tobacco industry.

Barbour said his past association with the tobacco industry did not influence his decision. But Partnership communications director Sharon Garrison said, "Haley Barbour looks like he continues to protect the interest of big tobacco."