Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has signed the state's biennial budget bill, except for 67 items that he vetoed. Not included in those vetoes was a provision that allocates $600 million in state funds toward the construction of a new domed Cleveland Browns stadium in suburban Brook Park.
The budget designates $1.7 billion from the state's unclaimed funds to establish an Ohio Cultural and Sports Facility Performance Grant Fund. The Cleveland Browns organization is the initial recipient of a grant from this new fund.
In anticipation of the budget's passage, former Ohio Attorney General and State Senator Marc Dann announced plans to file a class-action complaint against the Ohio Department of Commerce and Ohio Treasurer Robert Sprague.
Dann contends that using the Unclaimed Funds Trust for the stadium project constitutes "unconscionable, unconstitutional, and blatantly illegal confiscation of Ohioans' private property."