With his signature late Monday night, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has allowed a controversial funding plan for a new Cleveland Browns stadium to go forward. The state will tap its multi-billion-dollar pool of unclaimed funds — money which belongs to ordinary Ohioans — to pay for the Browns’ stadium and other sports and cultural facilities in the future.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the state's two-year budget, including an income tax cut for high earners and $600 million for the Cleveland Browns' new domed stadium. But DeWine vetoed 67 items in the spending bill and rejected lawmakers' plan to limit how much money school districts could carry over to 40%.

Gov. Mike DeWine signed the Ohio’s $60 billion budget into law late Monday, just 45 minutes before the midnight deadline. The 2026-27 measure, which was approved in both state chambers last week, earmarks $600 million in taxpayer dollars for a new Cleveland Browns stadium in Brook Park.