Lawmakers debate funding for Browns dome project again: I-Team

Yahoo

07-05-2025

COLUMBUS (WJW) – State lawmakers continued to debate the funding for the Cleveland Browns' new stadium project in Brook Park during the Senate's government oversight committee hearing Tuesday in Columbus.
During the hearing, Kimberly Murnieks, director of the office of budget and management, provided testimony about a March 26 memo she wrote, stating she was 'concerned about the burden that this project would place on Ohio taxpayers.'
She told lawmakers the memo she wrote was an 'internal memo' that was obtained by a public records request.
The Browns are asking for $600 million in bonds from the state. That money would be paid back with profits from the project.
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State Senator Casey Weinstein voiced concerns about the bonds being issued for the project. He talked about several cuts in the budget to various programs.
'While we are cutting childhood cancer research, while we are cutting the 988 suicide line, all those things are a deep, deep concern,' Weinstein said. 'Especially given the publicly reported contributions the Haslams have made to members of the general assembly. Do you think this project is in the public interest based on the research your team did?'
Murnieks pushed the Governor Mike DeWine's plan to fund sports stadiums by raising taxes on sports gambling.
'That is a long-term plan to address this issue while protecting the state's general revenue fund,' Murnieks said.
DeWine said last week he expects to get a deal done, but he believes his plan to fund stadium projects is the best way.
'If we could end up in a dome stadium in the state of Ohio. We do not have one. I think it's a very positive thing,' DeWine said.
He noted that the Haslams are spending over $1 billion of their own money to help pay for the project.
'You can't think of this as a stadium project. It's an economic development project,' Haslam told the I-Team last month.
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He said the Haslam Sports Group have committed $1.2 billion towards the stadium and another $800 million to $1 billion in private investment towards the adjacent mixed-use development.
The Browns also have recently responded to the memo written by the state budge office, saying the memo contained some wrong information.
More arguments on funding will come before state lawmakers soon. Still to come, a hearing before the state senate finance committee. There's no date for that set yet. A final decision on state funding for the Browns may not come until summer.
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