Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine signs off on state budget including $600 million for a new Cleveland Browns stadium

[True Dough]

Ari Meirov
@MySportsUpdate

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed a new state budget that includes $600 million in public funding toward a fully enclosed, state-of-the-art dome stadium for the Cleveland Browns in Brook Park.



https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/ohio-governor-approves-600-million-towards-new-cleveland-browns-stadium/

[PittBlue]

1. That is going to be built 3 miles from where we live.

It is right next to Hopkins Airport and it is going to be a logistical nightmare for everyone in our area. Of course they cut funding for public schools. The Ohio State Legislature is the worst in the country. The disgusting Haslins are worth over 7 billion dollars but we peons have to help pay for the losing Browns. I just wish that we had the money to leave the country.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Unrec

A silly, tired trope.

[LoisB]

3. Couldn't think of anything else to do with $600 million?

[Auggie]

4. Why couldn't a Stadium/Rock and Roll HOF entertainment mecca be developed? It's a no-brainer.

Most likely Haslam makes more money this way. What a kick in the balls to downtown Cleveland. Heartbreaking.

[AZProgressive]

5. More info from Field of Schemes

Ohio governor signs $600m state subsidy bill for Browns stadium, $600m more in city/county cash still pending

Well, that was anticlimactic: After insisting he was opposed to the state legislature’s plan to pay $600 million toward a new Cleveland Browns stadium by using an omni-TIF, Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill to do just that last night, either because he knew any veto would get overridden or because he just didn’t care enough to fight about it. (The state budget bill that DeWine signed also changed the state’s Art Modell Law to no longer prohibit teams from relocating in-state.) The $2.4 billion stadium project in Brook Park is now all set, except for all the ways it isn’t set at all:

Former Ohio attorney general Marc Dann and former state representative Jeff Crossman announced plans to file a class action suit against the state borrowing the money from its unclaimed property fund, which Dunn called an “unconscionable, unconstitutional, and blatantly illegal confiscation of Ohioans’ private property.”

It’s still unclear what will become of the $600 million in city and county money that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam previously said would be part of the stadium funding, Cleveland19 reports that “the Browns would fund the remaining $1.8B to complete the project, also covering overruns,” while News5Cleveland reports that “they’re looking to taxpayers to cover up to $1.2 billion of the tab for the stadium,” good work, local news teams!

This is a bit of a trend, it seems, state governments ponying up for public cash before local governments have decided on their share: We just saw this happen in Missouri with the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, which got around $1.5 billion combined in state funding last month while awaiting even more money from whichever city and county they end up playing in. The difference with the Browns is that they didn’t even have an offer from another state that Ohio needed to worry about matching — in fact, Haslam had previously said he would stay put in Cleveland if the state turned down his request. There’s bidding against yourself and then there’s bidding against yourself, and Ohio really broke new ground here, good work, local legislators!

https://www.fieldofschemes.com/

[Xavier Breath]

6. God forbid they do anything about funding public schools in an equitable fashion.

Christ, this place is run by morons. At this point we're just Oklahoma with slightly better weather.