The deadline has passed for communities throughout the state to submit their requests for Ohio’s capital budget, which is expected sometime near the end of March, when Gov. Mike DeWine will deliver his State of the State speech.
Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder says he expects the state will spend around the same amount on construction projects in this capital budget as it has in the recent past.
“We expect it to be about $2.6 billion total,” Householder says. “We will probably have about $150 million in community projects in that capital budget as well.”
Columbus has requested $26.5 million for a new mental health and addiction center as well as upgrades to parks and airports. Cincinnati wants about $22 million for its new major league soccer stadium and downtown arts projects.
Toledo wants more than $30 million for a convention center ballroom and a Jeep museum. Youngstown wants $6.7 million for mostly STEM type projects. And Cleveland made requests for a variety of art, tech, health and environmental projects but didn’t submit price tags for those items.
