COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOIO) - The Ohio Senate voted Wednesday in favor of its portion of the 2026-2027 biennial budget, which includes funding for the Cleveland Browns’ Brook Park Project.
While the budget covers many areas, including education, mental health, and environmental issues, the stadium funding was front and center.
As expected, the majority of Senate Republicans voted for the bill, while Democrats voted against it.
Republicans hold a majority in the Senate, 24-9.
The Senate’s plan, which is much different from the House’s, is to use money from [Ohio’s unclaimed funds](https://unclaimedfunds.ohio.gov/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21057383753&gbraid=0AAAAApKSrFdeldZV5dcJ-EGfL8M4YaWcg&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0qTCBhCmARIsAAj8C4Z-lEJfOp3uIayrHBVp67U40x-vu4EG8sMfU4N2KyzWZXeXgtAslcAaAv3DEALw_wcB) to create the Sports and Cultural Facility fund.
There is currently $3.7 billion in unclaimed funds that belong to Ohio residents who may not even know they are owed money.
These funds are from multiple sources, like lapsed bank accounts, insurance claims, or class action lawsuits and are generally less than $100.
Of the $3.7 billion, the plan is to take $1.7 billion of the funds that have sat for 10 years or more, and create the Sports and Cultural Facilities fund.
$600 million will instantly be earmarked for the Browns stadium project, and the rest can be applied for by teams, museums and cultural projects from around the state.
The $600 million will be paid back over the course of 16 years with the increase in tax revenues brought in by the massive Brook Park project.
Just in case the revenue estimates fall short, the Haslam Sports Group is required to put $50 million in an escrow account and have another $50 million in a line of credit that can make up for missed payments.
In April, the Ohio House approved a $600 million bond for the project, which is taking out a loan against the state’s credit.
Now that there are two competing plans, in the coming weeks, a committee made up of both House and Senate members will have to debate and negotiate out a compromise.
That compromise will make it in the final House Bill 96, which will then have to be voted on again by the House and the Senate, and end up on Governor Mike DeWine’s desk by June 30th.
Once the Governor has the budget, he has the right to veto any line in the budget, which could include the plan to fund the Browns.
DeWine has said in the past he does support state funding, but he has not said if he would veto either bonds or the use of unclaimed funds.
_Copyright 2025 WOIO. All rights reserved._