COLUMBUS | Mary Vermillion, 69, of Englewood, and Mel Trout, 79, of Beavercreek were among those who rallied Thursday at the Statehouse to blast Gov. Bob Taft's plan to cut spending at state-run residential facilities for the mentally handicapped.

A few blocks away, David Zanotti, the man who helped bring legislative term limits to Ohio, joined religious leaders at a news conference to denounce proposals to expand the state lottery, including joining a multi-state Powerball and permitting video lottery terminals at racetracks.

The two events highlight the pressure mounting on Taft and lawmakers, even though the deadline for approving the two-year budget is the end of June. Taft has called the proposed $44.9 billion spending plan "the tightest state budget in a decade."

Organized resistance already has developed to spending plans and initiatives to raise more money for the state during an economic downturn.

Vermilion and Trout, who have adult sons living at the Springview Developmental Center in Springfield, joined about 200 people to protest Taft's plan to cut spending 4.1 percent at Ohio's 12 developmental centers next year.

"These are not institutions . . . . They're homes for our children," said Vermillion, an Ohio Bell retiree.

"The problem I have with Taft is that I don't think he understands," said Trout, a retired Air Force colonel.

Both said they feared some services at the centers already are being downgraded.

Robert Jennings, spokesman for the Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Department, said there are no plans to close centers. Some jobs at the center are being phased out if identical services are provided in nearby communities, he said.

"No quality of care has been compromised," Jennings said.

As for the lottery, Zanotti, president of the Solon-based Ohio Roundtable and Ohio Freedom Forum, called any expansion plan "dumb economics." Taft has proposed joining a multi-state lottery, which he said would bring in an estimated $70 million extra each year.

Sen. Louis Blessing, R-Cincinnati, has said he plans to introduce legislation permitting the video lottery terminals at racetracks, which would bring in an estimated $233 million annually. Taft has not embraced this proposal.

Expanding the lottery might increase revenues initially, but the novelty would wear off, Zanotti said. He is contacting people who joined him and others to help defeat a 1996 ballot initiative that would have allowed eight riverboat casinos into Ohio.

"We haven't lost all our friends," Zanotti said. "We're still here . . . we're now going back to all these people to alert them to the fact that the battle is now engaged."

Zanotti's group also played a leadership role in passage of the 1992 term limit ballot initiative that restricts legislators to eight consecutive years in the House or Senate.

John C. Adams, senior pastor of the New Life Church in Sandusky, joined Zanotti and said he was "personally offended" by Taft, who touts himself as "pro-family."

"I can't think of anything more anti-family than gambling," Adams said.

Contact William Hershey at (614) 224-1608 or e-mail him at william_hershey@coxohio.com. Contact Kristen Convery at (202) 224-1625 or e-mail her at kristen_convery@coxohio.com