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!
Ohio legislators appropriated $600 million toward the Browns’ dome (12 times its previous high for a stadium subsidy) after ignoring: 1) opposition from local elected leaders; 2) opposition from the local populace ( three polls showed respondents preferring the current lakefront stadium site); 3) a skeptical report from the legislature’s own Legislative Service Commission; 4) and a skeptical report from Governor DeWine’s Office of Budget and Management. Do you think owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam’s recent contributions of $230,000 to State Republican issue campaigns and legislative leaders maybe—just maybe—played a role here?
Honestly? While I’m sure the campaign contributions didn’t hurt, I’ve seen so many cases at this point of team owners who have made minimal contributions to campaigns and still got what they wanted that I no longer think it’s a major factor.
Rich people give money to campaigns less to buy votes than to buy access — if you’re a major donor and want your lobbyist to be able to meet with legislative leaders, that’s going to be a good way to get their foot in the door. It’s one reason why major developers often donate to both parties: They’re not looking for a quid pro quo so much as ensuring that whoever wins, they’ll be able to whisper in their ears.