As they promised late last month, two Democratic former lawmakers have filed a lawsuit on behalf of Ohioans who could have unclaimed funds with the state. The lawsuit challenges the use of unclaimed funds for a $600 million grant to the owners of the Cleveland Browns in the state budget.
The lawsuit by former legislators Jeffrey Crossman and Marc Dann contends it's unconstitutional for the state to take ownership of those unclaimed funds to offer money for the new domed Browns stadium development and other future entertainment ventures.
“I don’t think that it made any constitutional sense to try to use other people’s money to fund a stadium for a billionaire sports team owner," said Dann, a former Ohio attorney general.
Dann, who's representing Ohioans who may have unclaimed money in the fund, has asked a Franklin County Court to take action to stop the state from using the money or at least make it harder for the state to do so.
"If they want to take the money of the hundreds of thousands of people who have money in the unclaimed funds fund, that they have to institute a separate appropriations proceedings for each one," Dann said.
Republican lawmakers who passed the budget said there is money in unclaimed funds that never gets claimed. Under their plan, Ohioans with unclaimed money would have ten years to get it out before the state would escheat untapped dollars to go into a $1.7 billion fund. $600 million of that would be used for a new planned domed stadium for the Cleveland Browns but the fund could also be used for other sports teams or entertainment venues in the future as well.
Dann said the state had other constitutional options. Gov. Mike DeWine had proposed taxing out-of-state gambling operators while the Ohio House wanted to issue bonds.
