Dawgs By Nature
State poised to approve $600M in funding and revise Modell Law. But another lawsuit may be on the horizon.
The sound of champagne corks popping may or may not have been heard at Cleveland Browns team headquarters on Wednesday after the Ohio legislature knocked down two more barriers to the team’s domed stadium plan in Brook Park.
The first came in the form of $600 million from the state to help build the stadium, which will sit on 176 acres near Cleveland Hopkins Airport. The Browns will repay the state through the tax revenue generated by the project.
Support from the state has mostly been a formality, but now that both the Senate and House have approved the funding in the state budget, all that is left is for Governor Mike DeWine to sign it by the end of the month, and the shovels can start hitting the dirt.
The money will come from the newly created Sports and Culture Facility Fund, which will appropriate $1.7 billion from the state’s Unclaimed Property Fund, currently holding $4.8 million.
There are two possible sticking points, however.
DeWine could issue a line-item veto of the funding, which would delay things while the legislature works on overturning the veto. While he has supported funding the project, DeWine proposed doubling the state’s tax on sports-betting companies operating in Ohio as the funding source for the Sports and Culture Facility Fund.
Even if he is not thrilled with the idea of using unclaimed funds, it seems unlikely that DeWine would want to pick a fight with his fellow party members over it.
The funding could also potentially be held up by a class action lawsuit from former state lawmakers Jeffrey Crossman and Marc Dann, who on Wednesday announced they will sue the state if it tries to tap the unclaimed fund account.
The pair held a news conference on Wednesday to voice their displeasure, with Crossman saying the money belongs to the people of Ohio, not the legislators, according to The Statehouse News Bureau:
“These funds belong to all those hardworking Ohioans across the state with forgotten savings accounts, uncashed checks, and overpaid utility bills. They’re not abandoned. That’s not state assets. This is private property. This is the most blatant example, and I don’t know that there’s been any prior event where that this fund has been raided for the purpose of giving the money to a private entity to construct a private project.”
Speaking of lawsuits, the City of Cleveland has been battling the move by trying to enforce the so-called Modell Law, which seeks to stop professional sports teams from leaving their taxpayer-supported stadiums unless they receive permission from city leaders or provide an opportunity for locals to buy the team.
But as part of the new state budget, lawmakers reworked the language to say the law would only apply if a team is looking to leave the state, and as long as a team fulfills its stadium lease, it would be...
