Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine discussed higher education, the Cleveland Browns stadium, and LGBTQ policy during the most recent Columbus Metropolitan Club weekly forum.

Statehouse News Bureau reporter Jo Ingles asked DeWine several questions during Wednesday’s hour-long forum and here is a rundown of what the governor had to say:

Higher Education 

Ohio lawmakers recently passed Senate Bill 1 — a massive higher education bill that would, among other things, ban diversity and inclusion and prohibit faculty from striking. DeWine received the bill Wednesday and has 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need a three-fifths vote from each chamber to override it.

“I made it clear I probably will sign the bill, but I want to go through this bill again and and take a look at it,” DeWine said. 

College students and faculty have said the bill will harm higher education in Ohio. 

“It wouldn’t be the first time that something gets passed and everybody looks at it six months later or a year later and says, ‘Hey, that wasn’t what we intended, or it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to,” DeWine said. “I think with any bill …  we should always be open to re-examining everything.” 

DeWine’s budget would continue the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, which gives the top 5% of each high school graduating class a $5,000 scholarship each year to go to an Ohio college or university.

“We want to keep our top kids in the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. “The data clearly tells us that if you go to school in the state of Ohio, you have dramatically increased your possibility of getting your first job in the state of Ohio and actually staying in the state of Ohio.”

The Governor’s Merit Scholarship was enacted through the last state budget two years ago. Ohio’s high school graduating class of 2024 included 6,250 eligible students and about 76% of them accepted the scholarship, DeWine said earlier this year when he introduced his budget. 

The Governor’s Merit Scholarship is estimated to cost $22.7 million for fiscal year 2025. It would cost $47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $70 million for fiscal year 2027, according to the governor’s proposed budget. 

The budget is currently going through the Ohio House and it will be sent over to the Ohio Senate before going back to DeWine. He must sign it by July 1. 

K-12 school funding

DeWine danced around a question about funding for K-12 schools and if schools will have enough money. The governor’s budget would decrease funding for traditional public schools by 0.9%, according to a workgroup analysis. Voucher programs including the private school program would see a 15.8% increase.  

“The state legislature is going to decide, maybe with some input from me, they’re going to decide what that formula is,” DeWine said.

House Speaker Matt Huffman has called the current formula “unsustainable.”

Cleveland Browns stadium 

DeWine’s proposed budget would double the tax on sports betting from 20% to 40% with the proceeds going to fund professional sports stadiums and Ohio youth sports. Doubling the tax on sports betting would generate between $150-$180 million per year, he said. 

Nearly all gambling in Ohio is done online and “99.5% of the money goes to out-of-state gaming companies who don’t employ anybody in the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. 

Gambling companies pay the sports-betting tax, so DeWine said the increased tax would not affect bettors.

“It’s going to be paid directly by the companies that are outside the state of Ohio,” he said. “This is money that’s on the table … We’re crazy if we don’t do this.”

This proposal comes as the Cleveland Browns are asking the state to help cover a quarter of the estimated $2.4 billion cost of building a new domed stadium in Brook Park, about 20 minutes away from their current stadium downtown. 

“I don’t think we can afford to continue to go into the general fund of our budget and take this money,” DeWine said. “This money directly competes against education. It directly competes against mental health, drug addiction, all these things that we actually need money to try to help people achieve their ultimate goals.”

How to fund professional sports stadiums will continue to come up with other teams throughout the state, he said. 

“This is not just a question about the Browns, it’s a question about every other stadium,” he said. “This will permanently solve our problem. If we don’t do this every legislature, every governor in the future is going to have to face the challenge of do we put $20 million here? Do we put $40 million here for this stadium or that stadium?”

Lawmakers are trying to give $600 million to the Browns by issuing bonds to build the new stadium. DeWine avoided directly answering the question of if he would line-item veto that proposal if it ended up in the budget. 

“We have a long way to go,” he said. “We haven’t seen the House budget yet, let alone the Senate.”

LGBTQ policy 

DeWine signed a bill into law last year prohibiting transgender students from using school bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity. Despite this, DeWine was adamant during Wednesday’s forum that Ohio does not have an anti-LGBTQ climate. 

“This is a state that welcomes everyone,” DeWine claimed, “And we want you to come to the state of Ohio. We want you to feel welcome here.”