On the afternoon of Tuesday June 3rd the Ohio State Senate released their version of the Ohio State Budget Proposal for the 2025 fiscal year. Normally state politics is as exciting as watching paint dry. But this year’s state budget is being watched very closely by Ohio sports fans and especially Cleveland Browns fans. Two months ago, the Ohio State House of Representatives approved in the state budget $600 million dollars in bonds for the construction of the new dome stadium in the Cleveland suburb of Brookpark Ohio. The Senate has their own version of stadium funding along with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine.

Currently with the state of Ohio budget proposals there are three options to fund the Brookpark project. First is the House of Representatives version to give the Browns $600 million dollars of state bonds to be paid back with revenue of the facility itself. Second Governor Mike DeWine proposed a doubling of the state gambling tax from 20% to 40% to fund all sports stadiums in Ohio. Third is what the Ohio State Senate just proposed an allocation of $1.7 billion dollars of unclaimed state funds to lend to Ohio sports teams for their stadium building and renovations. All three are viable options for the stadium funding. So, what is the next step in the process?

Next is the Ohio State General Assembly will meet for reconciliation with each version of the overall state budget. Once the final version is voted on and approved by the state legislature, the final bill will be sent to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law. I’m sure we can all remember School House Rock and the cartoon of how a bill became a law. This is pretty much the same process, but at the state level of government. The Ohio State Budget due date is June 30th ,2025. That is the day we will all know exactly how this new stadium for the Cleveland Browns will be funded. The recent Senate proposal takes the reality of new stadium for the Cleveland Browns one step closer. As for the ownership of the Cleveland Browns they didn’t come this far to just come this far. And this journey for new stadium is long overdue for Cleveland Browns fans.